Loophole that allows anyone to ‘trap and kill wild birds’ in Scotland

People are breaking the law and getting away with it

October 2010: The Scottish Government has been asked to overhaul a law which allows people to ‘trap wild birds and bash their brains out' without having to justify their actions and without any training in how to handle and kill birds humanely.

People have only to read a licence on a Government website, obtain a freely issued identification tag from the local police and they can then trap and kill unlimited numbers of magpies, crows and other birds.

John Robins of Animal Concern Advice Line (ACAL) says: ‘You could fly a condor through the loopholes in current legislation. For the second time this year I have reported people who have been breaking the law while killing corvids only for to the police to give them a ticking off then let them get on with it.

Far too easy to get permission
‘It is actually far too easy to get legal permission to kill these birds but still people are breaking the law and getting away with it. It is ludicrous that anyone can, without any training in the humane handling and killing of wild birds, stick a trap in their garden and then trap wild birds and bash their brains out against a wall.

‘There is no good reason for this unnecessary and possibly cruel practice to continue and I've asked the Environment Minister and the relevant MSP Cross-Party Committees to look into the situation. Meanwhile, we are asking the public to look out for people using Larsen cage traps to catch birds and to report them to us or to the local police so that we can ensure the traps are being used legally.'