It is rapidly approaching that time of year again when the moors of Britain turn into a shooting alley, where the targets are living beings, namely red grouse. Yes on the so called Glorious 12th (12th August) once again these tiny helpless birds will be shot from the sky simply for the pleasure of people who can only be described as mentally unbalanced at best, psychotic at worst. I mean who the hell in their right mind gets a buzz from killing this tiny creature???????
Red Grouse
By the end of the four months massacre about 500,000 birds will have been shot despite the fact that the majority of decent people would like to see an end to this barbarity. Last year Thousands marched in London protesting at the badger cull, calling for foxhunting to remain banned and calling for an end to grouse shooting.
The majority of us would like to see an end to hunting shooting and all blood sport, yet it continues. Lets see if we can make a difference this year and every year until finally this hideous anachronism of a bygone age is gone for good.
Important:
This year the 12th falls on a Sunday, On Sundays it is illegal to hunt or shoot. The law about Sunday shooting is laid out in the Game Act of 1831.
Therefore if you are in the moors or anywhere in the countryside and see anyone or any group of people shooting report them to the police as they are breaking the law.
Reasons to ban grouse shooting
Its unethical
Basically, ethically speaking the wanton killing of defenseless birds for no reason other than the pleasure of a tiny minority, usually the very well off, is wrong – evil in my opinion. As is the killing of other animals to facilitate more grouse for live targets, animals such as raptors, foxes, stoats crows, badgers (because they eat grouse) and hares (because they carry ticks that affect grouse) – even pets are killed caught in traps. Shooting and any blood sport is nothing more than animal cruelty pure and simple. IT HAS NO PLACE IN ANY MODERN SOCIETY.
Damage to the environment
Grouse moor burning causes widespread environmental changes
Grouse shooting requires intensive moorland management that causes increased flood risk, higher water-treatment costs, greater carbon emissions, damage to moorland habitats and reduced insect life in the streams running off grouse moors.
Action you can take to end this barbarity
Firstly something everyone can do right now, sign petitions
Please add your name to the following petitions:
We can at least bring an end to shooting in some areas by petitioning landowners to ban it on their land
End grouse shooting on Yorkshire Water moors
Yorkshire Water is one of the largest landowners in the region, leasing out moorlands for grouse shooting at the cost of wildlife, habitat, leisure and the regional economy.
Read more, sign and please share:
https://www.change.org/p/richard-flint-ceo-end-grouse-shooting-on-yorkshire-water-moors
Ban the shooting of Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse for sport.
35 Million “game birds” are placed into the countryside annually for shooting, disrupting the environmental balance. Native wildlife is killed to increase the number of game birds available for shooting. Damage to the environment and suffering to native species and to the game birds is unacceptable.
Read more and sign and share this petition widely need lots more people to sign
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/225105
More information
https://www.facebook.com/events/185104235652390/
Information and action you can take from the League Against Cruel Sports:
https://www.league.org.uk/grouse-shooting
Write to your MP urging a change in the law to ban shooting and all blood sports.
https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/
Shooting is an anachronism of a bygone age. Grouse are sentient creatures, their lives are important to them as are the lives of all animals caught up in this barbarity, including raptors, foxes, stoats crows, badgers and hares and even pets killed in traps by game keepers so that there are more grouse to shoot. Thousands of Mountain hare (between 25,961 and as many as 37,681 in 2014) are systematically culled/ killed each year. Please sign the petition to end moutain hare killing included in the previous link. The fact that in the modern world we allow people to use birds as live targets shames us as a country. The fact that people can roam our countryside armed to the teeth and take the lives of some of the other inhabitants of our planet is frankly shocking as it is barbaric. The arguments raised above such as ethics and the environment are the main reasons why this should be stopped. Other considerations I might add are for walkers who trek British moorland: who is not disturbed by suddenly coming upon armed men and sadly women with dead birds and dozens of dogs! Also there is little said about sheep who graze in moorland such as the Yorkshire dales. I have seen sheep harassed and herded by hunting parties and even a hunting dog worrying sheep.
How can we ever have a peaceful world it we allow anyone to kill for pleasure the other species with whom we share this planet. I cannot understand the mentality of anyone who enjoys killing a helpless animal.
Here is another reason to ban grouse shooting
The Saddleworth fire could prove another reason to ban this disgusting ‘sport’, which turns the land into a monoculture
Grouse shooting: half a million reasons why time’s up for this appalling ‘sport’
Comment on the last paragraph of the above article: Shooting, hunting, deer stalking and fishing or whatever you want to call the killing of defenseless animals for sport is all barbaric and all need to be abolished in its entirety. IT IS TIME ALL BLOOD SPORTS WERE BANNED HERE IN THE UK AND WORLDWIDE.
Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phasianus_colchicus_2_tom_(Lukasz_Lukasik).jpg
