Ban for man who let bird of prey loose to attack rabbit
A MAN who released a terrified rabbit so his bird of prey could attack it has been fined £450.
Gary Butcher deliberately set his red-tailed hawk to attack and injure the rabbit near his home.
He also released into an aviary a carrion crow, which was attacked and injured by the hawk in September last year.
Butcher, of Motherwell, Lanarkshire, admitted two charges under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act when he appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court this month.
Prosecutors accepted not guilty pleas to charges of controlling a wild crow and killing a crow by setting a red-tailed hawk to attack and kill it.
Butcher, 26, was fined by Sheriff Allan McKay and banned from owning, keeping, using or working with hawks and raptors for three years.
Sheriff McKay told him: ‘The conduct is jaw-droppingly thoughtless and what you did is absolutely awful. Perhaps if you had been younger then one might have seen reason for it, but given your age and experience this is a wholly inappropriate way to act.’
Defence solicitor Elspeth Forrest said: ‘He has always been a pet owner – animals seem to be a big part of his life.
‘He was asked to do something by another person and he did what he did.
‘There is no evidence of cruelty over a long period of time and officers did not remove the animals when they attended at his home.’
Miss Forrest added: ‘This case shows a lack of maturity and a lack of judgment.’
Butcher declined to comment after the hearing.
However, his Facebook page reveals an obsession with hunting and the outdoors.
Photos and videos show him holding and training a hawk to land on his gloved arm and take food from him. He is also seen showering the bird with a garden hose as it sits on a perch.
He has also taken the bird of prey, which he raised since it was a chick and named Angel,
‘Not only cruel but unnecessary’
to his local park, where it is shown flying over football pitches and landing on goalposts.
Butcher used social media to repeatedly boast about his love for hunting and post videos of him taking the bird of prey for flights in open spaces around his home.
He has also posted photos of himself posing over dead rabbits he had hunted as well as fish he caught.
Last night the Scottish SPCA welcomed the ban on Butcher keeping and working with hawks and raptors.
A spokesman said: ‘The use of live prey to train a bird in no way constitutes hunting.
‘To use live prey where they have no way of escaping is not only cruel but unnecessary.’