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Gamekeeper filmed killing wild birds in a cage – Courts won’t prosecute20/02/2012 22:58:50Scottish Gamekeepers Association statementThe Scottish Gamekeepers Association has issued a response in the wake of animal welfare charity, OneKind, releasing footage of a gamekeeper dispatching crows in a legal crow cage trap. Scottish Gamekeepers Association has clarified that the individual involved in the legal case is not a member of the organisation. However, when pressed for a response, Chairman Alex Hogg said: "The Scottish Gamekeepers Association adheres to best practice when it comes to dispatching animals in legal traps and this information is distributed to members. Welfare is the key issue and the animal should be dispatched as quickly and humanely as possible." February 2012. Animal welfare charity OneKind, formerly Advocates for Animals, has released video footage of a gamekeeper killing wild birds in a cage, following Crown Counsel's decision not to prosecute. Prosecutors decided that evidence submitted by a OneKind Field Officer was inadmissible. In their judgment his presence on the estate concerned amounted to surveillance, and in one previous wildlife case this had caused a court to reject evidence from witnesses. OneKind has stated throughout this case that the Field Officer was on the land gathering material for educational purposes unrelated to the incident, which he witnessed by chance. No appeal The OneKind Field Officer was able to record the killing of the birds, which prosecutors interpreted as surveillance, as it is standard practice for a Field Officer to carry photographic equipment and it was not taken there specifically to film the gamekeeper at work. The Scottish Government-led Partnership Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland has recently published guidance for the public on reporting suspected wildlife crimes, including recommendations for looking out for suspicious vehicles, taking photographs and taking notes of exact locations.
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Read the comments about this article and leave your own comment
It appears that we have learnt nothing. Just because there might a lot of a particular species doesn't mean it will always be so. Crows and other corvids might be plentiful at the moment but so were the passenger pigeon and the Great Auk. Look what happened to them. Culling is not for the sake of the animal as is claimed. It is for the sake of us. We don't like competition from others so they are dispensed with.
I despair that we will never learn that we are part of nature not seperate from it.
Posted by: Amanda | 27 Feb 2012 20:25:40
unfortunately, wildlife in particular, has very little value to those of us who derive pleasure from spending time ( and money !) watching it.its this dreadful word " culling " that makes me squirm.animals being tortured in vivisection hell holes are only there to allegedly benefit mankind. often pets are only valuable as long as they match the furniture ! and dispensed with.its pointless trying to get the judiciary to take animal cruelty seriously, as so many of them spend time shooting/hunting etc. so whats another rook/crow/magpie. gamekeepers are the vermin here.agree with daniel. publish and be damnded .
Posted by: dee donworth | 26 Feb 2012 18:13:07
How dare they say that they dispatched those animals humanely. We never kill anything humanely, we take the greatest pleasure in killing. It sickens me, if a person was to kill another person "humanely" they would be up for murder, and yet we are allowed to do it to other animals. Why, because we are a flawed and parasitic species. If something isn't suited to our standards and needs, we exploit and abuse it to make it so, and we don;t give a damn about the effects we have on other species, because we only care about ourselves. Tell you what, how about we do the same thing to all the rapists and murderers, dispatch them "humanely" (meaning clubbing their heads in) rather than giving them all the luxuries of prison. But no we can't do that because it goes against human rights. To hell with human rights, where is the rights for animals to live, when you have monsters out there who take the greatest pleasure in killing innocent animals, and for what, a couple of pound notes in the pocket. It sickens me.
Rather than complain about it, give out the man's address and let all animal lovers go and kick the crap out of him, if he dies, so be it, there will be one less monster in this world.
Posted by: Daniel | 25 Feb 2012 12:35:34