MSPs will quiz the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.

Education Secretary John Swinney will then give a ministerial statement on education governance.

Image source, PA

The third and final Scottish government debate of the week marks the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh International Festivals.

Environment Secretary Roseanna says it is true that stink pits will capture non-target species like badgers, wildcat and pine martins.

Ms Cunningham says there is no hard evidence substantiating the claims around stink pits.

Image source, PA / RSPB / BBC

She says the Scottish Technical Assessment Group to look at the use of stink pits as part of its review of snares.

Ms Grahame asks how many stink pits there are in Scotland.

Ms Cunningham says at present she has no information about the number.

She says snaring and the use of stink pits should be carried out to the highest standards.

Environment and Land Reform Secretary Roseanna Cunningham says the use of stink pits is an emotive issue.

Ms Cunninham says she appreciates that the use of animal carcasses will be repugnant to most.

The environment secretary says they are used to draw foxes as a means of fox control and says they are legal as long as livestock is not used.

Ms Cunningham says she understands land managers are trialing alternative measures.

She says it is necessary for snaring operates to use their unique snare number.

Image source, bbc

Green MSP Alison Johnstone says there have been recent dispiriting responses from the Scottish government on animal welfare.

Ms Johnstone says it is proposing the reintroduction of tail docking of puppies, standing by on fox hunting south of the Border and refusing to ban snares.

The Green MSP says she is optimistic the government will ban stink pits.

Labour MSP Colin Smyth says stinks pits are literally piles of dead animals.

Mr Smyth says that most farmers in Scotland are not allowed to bury livestock on their land.

The Labour MSP says that there should be an outright ban on snaring to end the disease rather than just the symptoms.

SNP MSP Ruth Maguire says if constituents are appalled by snaring then they are likely to be even more repulsed by stink pits because they are indiscriminate and "disgusting".

Ms Maguire says stink pits attract all sorts of animals and increase the risk of non-target animals being caught.

The SNP MSP says stink pits should be banned and she will stand with those who protect animals and not those who profit from their suffering.

Conservative MSP Peter Chapman says despite spending his life in the country he has never come across a stink pit and did not know what they are.

Mr Chapman says middens use snares which allow non-target species to be released.

He says the motion uses somewhat emotive language.

Image source, bbc

Ms Grahame intervenes to ask if Mr Chapman has looked at the images online of carcasses piled on top of each other in a midden.

He says he accepts there may be occasions where carcasses are piled on top of each other but he says that is not always the case.

The Tory MSP says middens are an important tool in the tool box.

Ms Grahame says it is "offensive" to use stink pits to catch animals and to build animal carcasses on top of other carcasses.

The SNP MSP says she wants a ban on stink pits on the grounds of animal welfare.

She says that she believes the public would be "disgusted" at the use of stink pits.

Ms Grahame says she does not know how many stink pits there are in Scotland and how many snares are around them but she knows they do exist.

She says she agrees with pest control but that this is not the way to go about it.

Image source, Dark Peak Fell Runners

Ms Grahame uses her motion to say killing and dumping animals, including protected species and domestic pets, to rot and act as bait to trap other animals, is inhumane and fundamentally disrespectful to the creatures.

The SNP MSP calls for the Scottish government to consider the merits of banning the use of stink pits in Scotland altogether, on ethical, animal welfare and public health grounds.

Ms Grahame uses her motion to say the dead animals found in these pits recently have included:

• foxes
• deer
• whole salmon
• pink-footed geese

Image source, Richard McManus

• pheasants
• rabbits
• mountain hares
• domestic cats

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Christine Grahame says she is disappointed that not one Scottish Conservative supported her motion.

Ms Grahame says, until a few months ago, she did not know what stink pits are.

She says that stink pits, also known, as "middens" are used to catch animals on animal hunting estates.

Ms Grahame says this invloves building "graves" and filling them with carcasses.

She says that they are "cruel and indiscriminate".