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Why?

From my perspective and with my limited knowledge, I am not entirely clear how the words “snare” and “humane” can be used in the same sentence. Can you expand on that a bit?

I realise that.

Do you have any comment on what the impact might be of a ban on trail hunting in Wales?

It is interesting that you made the point that having a licence rescinded would be a very useful way of controlling malpractice, inhumanity and bad welfare.

I suppose that a licence is a stronger tool to ensure that people follow the correct welfare procedures in respect of wildlife and their own animals.

Yes, that is one side of it. The other side of it is having the resources to be able to continually apply for the licence and how that would work.

I would like you to expand on that. In the constituency that I represent, such work is done not by foot packs but by groups of farmers getting together. There are concerns that having a window of only 14 days might not work. Also, as Rachael Hamilton said, there is a difference between a larger organisation such as the RSPB, which would, in the stoat example, be able to apply for a two-year licence, and farmers who have to do such work much more regularly to manage the welfare of their livestock without—as they might argue—the resources of a larger organisation.

That goes back to my earlier point about remembering that we are not one Scotland. There are lots of different needs across Scotland.

Are you saying that it supports the welfare of the injured deer to put them out of their suffering as humanely as possible?

I will briefly continue with the same line of questioning, because concerns have been raised with me, too, about the licensing system.

People accept that there has to be a balance. The application process for a licence needs to be difficult enough to prevent people from abusing the licensing system but easy enough for farmers to use at an incredibly busy time, as Jim Fairlie said.

We also need to listen to the different needs across Scotland. Not everybody walks their dog in a park, for example; they could be walking their dog in a woodland and raise a hare or a rabbit. It is about recognising that, across Scotland, there are different terrains and people have different ways of working.

I am continuing on from Jim Fairlie’s plea about the need to listen to the welfare needs of farmers and to balance those with the needs of animals.

My question is specifically on section 3(3)(e), on bringing in birds of prey to kill wild mammals. I am interested to know what you had in mind when you were writing that part of the legislation.