Fox hunting banned

scotland has banned fox hunting. The Scottish parliament prohibited the sport -- in which felt-coated hunters on horseback charge across fields chasing foxes with a pack of hounds -- after members of the regional assembly voted 83 to 36 in favour of the ban. Earlier, the Protection of Wild Mammals Bill calling for an end to hunts with dogs was introduced by Labour parliamentarian Mike Watson in March 2000. Animal rights groups demonstrated outside parliament before the voting was made. Reacting to the ban, Phyllis Campbell-McCrae, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said, "It is a watertight bill which is no longer allowing people to set one animal against another for sport." Pro-hunting groups say that it may still be possible to hunt with dogs if they were muzzled and did not kill any foxes.