In Rob Edwards’s article, it was suggested that, by refusing to attend Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime In Scotland (PAWS) meetings, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) is damaging initiatives to protect wildlife from persecution (Bitter war over illegal bird killings, News, May 21).
I do not think this is the case. The PAWS talking shop has been going on for years yet crimes of poisoning, shooting and trapping protected birds of prey are still commonplace in areas of Scotland where land is “managed” to increase numbers of birds to be shot by “sporting” guns.
Instead of pussyfooting around fearful of upsetting those with a vested interest in breaking the law to reduce the number of raptors it is time for politicians, police and prosecutors to take a determined hard line and jail wildlife criminals rather than jaw about it.
If the SGA cannot eliminate wildlife crime on estates their members manage, others must step in and lead the way.
To facilitate this we must rid ourselves of ludicrous legal niceties barring court use of video evidence clearly showing criminal acts being committed. The Crown Office must realise criminals are not going to invite investigators to film them breaking the law. Hidden cameras are crucial to obtain evidence.
Criminal acts of animal cruelty secretly filmed in abattoirs, farms, circuses and in the field have all be ruled inadmissible evidence in our courts. That situation must be quickly remedied.
John F Robins
Animal Concern Advice Line
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel