Grouse moors under fire over wildlife cruelty
● Animal welfare groups call for ban on snares, traps and stink pits
Gamekeepers and grouse shooting businesses are inflicting “industrial-scale suffering” on wildlife, according to a damning new report from animal welfare groups.
Campaigners say pest control methods used to help red grouse thrive are inhumane and “ethically indefensible”.
They are calling for an independent review of the welfare implications of all traps, plus a ban on snares, stink pits, Larsen traps, use of decoy birds and mountain hare culls.
They want to see an end to driven grouse shooting as well as a system of mandatory proficiency tests and licenses for all shooters.
And all wildlife management in Scotland should conform to the seven principles of Ethical Wildlife Control.
The report, from the League Against Cruel Sports and the
Scottish charity Onekind, documents how wild animals and birds are being killed and subjected to pain in an attempt to protect grouse stocks.
It features case studies illustrating the kinds of suffering endured by a range of species, including protected and domestic animals.
It also blames grouse moor management for a list of other environmental harms, including degradation of peat stores through muir-burning; scarring hillsides with unauthorised tracks and fences; culling thousands of native mountain hares, and illegally killing protected birds of prey.
TV presenter and naturalist
Chris Packham wrote in the foreword: “There is a circle of destruction that surrounds grouse moors. It includes fundamental issues of social justice, environmental protection and animal welfare.”
Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, said: “Thousands and thousands of animals are condemned to die a cruel death that fuels the circle of destruction that surrounds grouse moors – all to make sure there are more grouse to be shot for entertainment. It’s time for this madness to end.”
Bob Elliot, director of Onekind, added: “The report helps to raise awareness of the physical and mental suffering inflicted on the animals caught in these cruel traps and snares. The level of suffering inflicted on these wild animals, that will often die slow, agonising deaths, is completely unacceptable and would be illegal if inflicted on our pets.
“Onekind calls for a complete ban on these cruel and antiquated traps and snares and we have recently petitioned the Scottish Parliament to end these wildlife killings in Scotland.”
The report, Untold Suffering, was commissioned by Revive, a coalition of organisations campaigning for reform of the grouse shouting industry.