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SHOCK Wildlife slaughter revealed in shocking new League rep - 2005/08/11 21:33
http://www.league.uk.com/
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More than 12,300 animals are killed by gamekeepers on British game bird shooting estates each and every day(1), the League Against Cruel
Sports revealed in Newcastle today. This shocking information is part of a new League investigative report, Killing for Sport(2), which details a largely unreported and frequently illegal programme of predator control by gamekeepers who snare, trap and poison wildlife to protect the millions of game birds shot every year by wealthy businessmen, tourists and amateur shooters keen to experience a day or weekend of country shooting.
The report reveals that animals, including protected badgers, foxes, hares, stags, owls, kestrels, and domestic livestock and pets, die often excruciating deaths because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. In just one example, a 'vermin return form' sent to Sir
Jocelyn Stevens by gamekeepers on his Millden estate in Scotland records that in just one month gamekeepers killed 698 rabbits, 37 hares, 19 stoats, 23 crows, three magpies, three jackdaws, one rook, three foxes, two 'feral' cats, six gulls and one stag.
Millden is just one of the 2000 estates and farms currently involved in this industry. Amongst those willing to pay £400 to £2000 per day for a day of shooting are recent celebrity enthusiasts including
Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Vinnie Jones, Jamie Oliver, Bryan Ferry and
Marco Pierre White.
Speaking at the press conference, League chief executive Douglas
Batchelor(3) said:
"It is unlikely that any of these people have any notion quite how bloody their new hobby is or how much of Britain's wildlife is dying to support it. The information contained in our report will shock many, as it certainly should. We will be drawing this scandal to the attention of MPs, whom we expect to provide improved legal protection for wildlife, including a ban on snares, and proper enforcement of laws."
Concern about lack of enforcement by police in the northeast has prompted anti-snaring campaigners to name this area as the worst for snaring incidents, which is why the League chose to launch the report in Newcastle.
Mr Batchelor concluded: "It is indefensible for millions of birds and mammals to be slaughtered every year for the sake of a day's shooting."
- ends -
Notes to Editors:
(1) This figure is a daily average of the Game Conservancy Trust estimate of 4.5 million animals killed by gamekeepers annually.
Click here to download a PDF version of this report ( 663Kb ) To open this you need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download a free copy visit www.adobe.com
LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS
Press Office, Sparling House, 83-87 Union Street, London SE1 1SG
Tel: 0207 403 6155 Fax: 0207 403 4532 Pager: 07626 417 352
KILLING FOR SPORT:
How gamekeepers are devastating Britain's wildlife
A REPORT BY THE LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS
Executive Summary
More than 12,300 animals are killed by gamekeepers in this country every day. According to the Game Conservancy Trust, as many as 4.5 million mammals and birds of prey are killed annually in a largely unreported and frequently illegal programme of predator control.
Gamekeepers snare, trap and poison these animals to protect the millions of game birds shot every year by wealthy businessmen and tourists who are keen to experience a day or weekend of country shooting.
Animals, including protected badgers, foxes, hares, stags, owls, kestrels, and domestic livestock and pets, die often excruciating deaths because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
To give just one example, a 'vermin return form' sent to Sir Jocelyn
Stevens by gamekeepers on his Millden estate in Scotland (a copy of which was obtained by the League Against Cruel Sports), records that in the single month of April 2001, gamekeepers killed 698 rabbits, 37 hares, 19 stoats, 23 crows, three magpies, three jackdaws, one rook, three foxes, two "feral" cats, six gulls and one stag.
Dying to entertain
There are currently 2000 estates and farms involved in this industry, which claims to be one of the country's fastest growing 'sports'.
These establishments include some of the oldest and most prestigious estates in the UK. Amongst those willing to pay £400 to £2000 per day for a day of shooting are recent celebrity enthusiasts including
Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Vinnie Jones, Bryan Ferry and Marco Pierre
White. It is unlikely that any of these people have any notion quite how bloody their new hobby is or how much of Britain's wildlife is dying to support it.
The rich and famous who shoot on Viscount Cowdray's Sussex estates are probably unaware that one of his gamekeepers narrowly escaped prosecution for the widespread use of illegally set snares in woodland managed for pheasant shooting. This particular estate has been rife with offences.
Other estates which have been found to be in violation of various wildlife regulations include Killinghurst, Milland and Polesdon. One bright note: An investigation which uncovered badger persecution on his Goodwood estate, led the Earl of March to ban the use of snares by gamekeepers on the estate.
An industry based on cruelty and criminality
Although only a small percentage of wildlife crimes are ever detected, those offences that are prosecuted reveal a flagrant disregard for wildlife protection laws. The large number of prosecutions involving offences committed in the immediate vicinity of game bird pens is a clear indication that this calculated slaughter is all about protecting an industry and nothing to do with the conservation gamekeepers claim to have as their primary goal.
A small sample of prosecutions in the past seven years include: a
Hampshire gamekeeper fined for using live mallards and jackdaws as decoys in traps, a Norfolk gamekeeper killing three kestrels, an Essex gamekeeper asphyxiating three fox cubs, a trainee Norfolk gamekeeper setting pole traps, which have been illegal since 1904, and a
Buckinghamshire gamekeeper charged with 16 offences, including snaring, trapping and killing badgers, owls, foxes, a sparrow hawk and a buzzard.
The information contained in this report will shock many. Let us hope it also leads to improved legal protection for wildlife, including a ban on snares, and proper enforcement of laws.
Douglas Batchelor
Chief Executive
League Against Cruel Sports
October 2003
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