To the Editor of the Veterinary Record

Madam
The Veterinary Association of Wildlife Management (VAWM) welcomes the recent article by Alick
Simmons (VetRec 23rd March 2023) regarding the profession’s involvement in the welfare and
management of wild animals, and we consider the inclusion of fishing, both for pleasure and
commercial, would be appropriate in his categorisation of animals in this respect.
The importance of peer reviewed scientific evidence on this matter has been demonstrated
previously (Harris and Bateson) and cannot be overstated.
It also cannot be overemphasised that whilst it is understood that the welfare of an animal is
determined by its capacity to avoid suffering and sustain fitness, (Webster, 1994), in this respect, it is
necessary to maintain a critical viewpoint about the meaning of biological needs, avoiding
anthropomorphic interpretations (Morton et al, 1990).
We note that the Wild Animal Welfare Committee, of which Mr Simmons is a member and whose
aim is to provide an evidence base for evaluating, monitoring, assessing and improving decisions
affecting wildlife, singularly failed to do so in their submission to the new Scottish Hunting Act.
Without scientific evidence, they supported the restriction to two dogs for flushing wild mammals to
guns and opposed the use of more dogs in terrain where it is deemed necessary.
This arbitrary number of two dogs has been shown by recent research to be less effective in flushing
foxes than a pack of dogs, and a pack of dogs also results in a shorter duration of pursuit of foxes
(Naylor 2018).
Another consequence of restricting the use of dogs in wildlife management is that the Scottish
government has ignored mammals which have been shot but only wounded. A fox, for example, may
still be able to run a considerable distance. While a dog is permitted to find the animal, it must not
be killed by the dog. This places the suffering of a wounded animal secondary to an unscientific
prejudice against hunting with dogs. Under this law, the wild animal is unlikely to be found and will
die over days in increasing distress.
The use of guns to control foxes, whether flushed or located by other means, without the correct
training, expertise and the use of the appropriate weapon, means that wounding will inevitably
increase.
The Middle Way Group study concluded that there was a 50% wounding rate with a shotgun under
common field conditions, (Fox 2005), whilst a study conducted by IFAW (2015) of fox post mortems
indicated that in the region of 9% and 3% of the foxes shot at, are wounded with shotguns and rifles
respectively each year.
Approximately 80,000 foxes have been estimated to be shot each year (Baker and Harris, 2005).
From these statistics, between 2,400 and 40,000 foxes are wounded by guns each year.
There has been one published report (Edwards, 1999) of a fox wounded by hounds.

Yours faithfully,
Elizabeth Rhys Jones BVM&S MRCVS
Louisa Cheape BVSc MRCVS
Hazel Clewley BVetMed MRCVS
David Renney BVetMed MRCVS
David Walker BVetMed Cert SAO MRCVS
Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management.
Baker, P.J. & Harris, S. (2005) Shooting in the dark. Animal Welfare, 14, 275-278.
Bateson, P. and Bradshaw, E. L. 1997 Physiological effects of hunting red deer. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B
Biol. Sci. 264, 1707-1714
Edwards, R., 1999. Findings in a fox rescued from hounds. Veterinary Record 144, 483.
Fox, N.C., Blay, N., Greenwood, A.G., Wise, D. & Potapov, E. (2005) Wounding rates in shooting foxes
(Vulpes vulpes). Animal Welfare, 14, 93-102.
Harris, R.C., Helliwell, T.R., Shingleton, W., Stickland, N., Naylor, J.R. 1999 The physiological response
of red deer (Cervus elaphus) to prolonged exercise undertaken during hunting. Joint Universities
Study on deer hunting.
IFAW, 2015. After the hunt - The future for foxes in Britain. Philip Baker, Stephen Harris and Piran
White, University of Bristol , University of York. Not peer reviewed.
Morton, G.B. et al, 1990. Critical anthropomorphism, animal suffering and the ecological context.
Hasting’s Centre Report Spring Issue on Animals. Ethics. Sci. Med. 20(3):13-19
Naylor, R.J., Knott, J.G. 2018. A pack of dogs is more effective at flushing red foxes to guns than a
pair. Wildlife Society Bulletin 42(2):338-346;
Webster, J., 1994. Animal Welfare – A cool eye towards eden. Blackwell Science. Oxford, UK.