Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

 
 
Saturday, 30th August 2008

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Sign In
Register

Double standards?



Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Killing birds of prey, according to the minister for environment, Michael Russell, is a "shameful and barbaric practice which has no place in a modern, civilised and environmentally friendly country".
Could Mr Russell therefore please explain why, in his view, the breeding of millions of game birds to be shot for fun does not fall into the same category.

RODNEY HALE
West Sandford
Crediton, Devon



The full article contains 67 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 06 July 2008 8:19 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

EWB,

UK 07/07/2008 08:07:01
No one protests about the thousands of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered in the UK every day for the dinner table, or the millions of cattle butchered (many needlessly) in the Foot and Mouth scare a few years back, yet listen to the howls from animal lovers if a few cuddly wee badgers are to be culled to prevent the spread of TB. And, of course, we know who our craven government listens to.
2

ignorant townie?,

Scotland 07/07/2008 13:57:27
EWB...all animals should get the same consideration from reared cattle to reared pheasants and including "cuddly badgers".Man has complete power over whether these animals live or die, or in many cases whether they exist in the first place.Its not some sick kind of competition, with winners and losers.

Why raptors are particularly important here are that they are an indicator, when left alone, of how well or badly our total environment is doing - they can also very easily be wiped out.In my own experience they are also a good indicator of ignorance and bigotry towards wildlife in any area. Raptor killing is a good indication that other wildlife crime - from non checking of snares to badger digging will be going on.

Where I have some sympathy with Mr Hale is where the rearing, transport and release conditions for pheasants and partridge are of a very low standard - as admitted by shooting organisations looking at the huge imports of these birds from France at this time of year.

I myself have seen dozens of pheasants dead in a release pen due to feather pecking because of overcrowding. The gamekeeper's response to these dead birds?...he put out poisoned baits and a self locking snare to deal with the awful predators who he mistakenly thought were responsible.
3

EWB,

UK 07/07/2008 15:07:30
ignorant townie: I share your view but perhaps my comment gives the wrong impression. What I am arguing, like you, is that all animals deserve equally fair treatment. My wife wrote in protest about calves being transported live and in appalling conditions to France.

My gripe is the way some people are so keen to have their daily quantity of meat that they don't care under what conditions they are reared, e.g. factory farming, yet are moved to compassion when furry animals are killed. There have even been letters in the Scotsman in defence of the grey squirrel, which like so many introduced species is vermin.

Your comments about raptors are perceptive. It is disgusting to hear in the news about the poisoning of these magnificent birds or the stealing of their eggs, especially when some have after years of persecution in the last century begun to establish themselves in Scotland and other parts of the UK again.

4

ignorant townie?,

Scotland 07/07/2008 15:19:14
At the risk of turning this into our own little chat!!..

To my mind theres no such thing as "vermin"...that term is a 19th century relic from the old attitude of "kill everything you dont like before it swamps you....". I think of it in terms of "varmints" used by the more intellectually challenged bit parts in cowboy films....

Having said that Im not against humane killing of grey squirrels or other non-native animals or plants...usually introduced by the same short-sighted landowners who have brought us artificial grouse moors and intensive pheasant rearing.

strange silence from the shooting lobby??
5

EWB,

UK 07/07/2008 19:06:23
#4: Are you a teacher or a teacher manqué to judge by your linguistic precision?

Let's agree on "unwisely introduced non-native species", because I fully agree with the rest of what you say.

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.