An attempt to ban hunting in Scotland has been set back by a committee of MSPs which has refused to back the bill.

The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill being promoted by the Labour MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Mike Watson, has become the first bill in the Scottish parliament that has failed to receive the backing of a parliamentary committee.

The report of the parliament's Rural Development Committee questioned whether the proposed ban would succeed in ending cruelty to the animals involved, calling the evidence "inconclusive".

It also said that the bill, which aims to ban hunting with dogs, was too wide-ranging and as a result it would be difficult to make it workable.

"The bill is so controversial, and the evidence on cruelty in hunting so inconclusive, that a moral stance has been adopted. The Committee was unable to find consensus on hare coursing and mounted hunts," said the report.

The report also concluded that "The principle of this bill is focused on the use of dogs which, while well intentioned, misses the point that dogs can be used in both a cruel and a humane way, and are not the common factor in determining cruelty. The Committee...believed that it is difficult or impossible to amend the bill into a form which will adequately meet the aim of ending cruelty and for this reason recommends that the general principles of this bill should not be agreed to."

The MSPs argued that the bill could increase the use of snaring or gassing, but failed to regulate how these should be carried out.

The committee also said it had been "convinced by evidence which has shown that some activities which may at first seem cruel are in fact carried out to avoid unnecessary suffering". This could include the use of dogs to kill an injured animal.

Watson, and co-sponsor of the bill Tricia Marwick of the SNP, attacked the committee's findings and said the bill remained on track to be passed by parliament.

"I remain confident a majority of MSPs will share my view that the barbaric blood sports of fox hunting and hare coursing have no place in today's Scottish society, and will vote in favour of the bill," said Watson.

"It is absolutely bizarre the committee's recommendation is not supported by the main body of the report. It also defies logic for members of the committee to say the bill cannot be amended. Amendments are a fundamental part of all bills' progress through parliament," he added.

Marwick also noted that "both the Justice and Home Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee did not conclude the bill was either unworkable or could not be implemented."

Other opponents of hunting have also criticised the committee's conclusions.

A spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare said she was "astounded that the committee appears to believe that the bill cannot be amended" given that such a strong moral case had been made against hunting.

She accepted that some use of dogs may be necessary but pointed out that if MPs in Westminster were capable of separating valid pest control from hunting as a sport then members of the Scottish parliament should be capable of doing the same.

However, the Scottish Countryside Alliance praised the work done by the committee.

"The Rural Development Committee has done a very thorough job. However we will refrain from further comment until the Parliament has made its decision," it said in a statement issued by executive chairman Jack Irvine.

The committee was split over whether to back the bill. Two Labour MSPs, Rhoda Grant and Cathy Jamieson, together with the SNP's Richard Lochhead backed the principles of the bill.

However, Fergus Ewing and Margaret Ewing of the SNP, Alex Fergusson and Alex Johnstone of the Conservatives and the two Lib Dem committee members, George Lyon and Mike Rumbles opposed the general aims of the planned legislation. One other Labour member, Elaine Murray, abstained, while Elaine Smith, also from Labour, was absent from the vote.

The committee's report will now be debated by the full parliament, where MSPs will decide whether to endorse the principles of the bill and continue with its passage, or reject it entirely as recommended by the committee. The debate will be held after the parliament returns from summer recess.