Weather
Activists ‘trash grouse pens’ (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting TANEWS to 80360, or email
Activists ‘trash grouse pens’
5:20pm Thursday 24th July 2008
Animal rights activists have bragged about trashing grouse pens and electric fencing near Ilkley Moor ahead of the start to the shooting season next month.
The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) has a report on its website posted by an anonymous member of the Grouse Liberation Front admitting to causing the damage.
It reads: “A large grouse pen was identified and trashed; the water pipes and distributors were left split and smashed.
“The wire fencing from the entire enclosure was brought down. The electric fencing was cut and the system destroyed. Two set fen traps were discovered and placed permanently out of commission.
”Two smaller pens were found nearby and the netting roof and wire surrounds were left in tatters. Feeders in the area were also tampered with.”
The damage is believed to have been carried out earlier this month, ahead of the shooting season, which starts on August 12. However, The Bingley Moor Partnership, which won the rights for grouse shooting on Ilkley Moor, has said there will be no shooting for at least two years because of a shortage of grouse stocks.
Chairman Edward Bromet has said a gamekeeper will work on the moor to ensure the eco-system is protected and the birds looked after.
The actions of the activists have been branded “criminal” by the Moorland Association.
Spokesman Amanda Anderson said the vandals had been “off target” because the majority of the equipment “has nothing to do” with grouse shooting.
She said: “The police are involved. These people are criminals and they are not very clever criminals. They have destroyed legitimate work for the benefit of conservation.”
She said the pens which were damaged were probably for rearing birds other than grouse, such as partridges. The traps which were destroyed were for catching predators such as weasels, stoats and mink, which kill birds and eat their eggs, she said.
A petition by Ilkley-based West Yorkshire Animals in Need (WYAN) calling for a ban on grouse shooting on the moor, was referred to Bradford Council last week.
Although a ten-year contract to organise the shoots has been agreed between The Bingley Partnership and the Council, which owns and maintains the moor, protesters hope to halt shooting before it begins.
However, a full debate on the issue looks unlikely. The petition may simply be noted by the executive, as the contract has already been signed.
Green Party Councillors, Kevin Warnes and Martin Love, have also expressed concerns about shooting grouse, despite grouse numbers crashing in recent years.
More News stories
- CCTV set to catch bus lane abusers
- Youths held after four house blazes in two nights
- Arsonists blamed for half of big fires in Bradford
- Keighley museum’s friendly cash plea
- Yacht a great way to see the world!
- ‘Drug dealers face long prison terms’
- Novel by gran, 73, hits the shelves
- Teenager kept ammunition by bed
- Return ticket for Railway Children
- Blow for green belt grammar school plans
Your Say YourBradford
albion, west riding says...
1:33pm Fri 25 Jul 08
CatrinaC wrote:You cant win the argument so you resort to damaging the property of others, there can be no excuse for that, why dont you channel your efforts into discovering why many native species are disappearing? and then present your findings to the relevant authority. Anarchy cannot be allowed to prevail, there is enough bullying in this country without you lot sticking your oar in, take your arguments to the EEC.
"They have destroyed legitimate work for the benefit of conservation"
It isn't for the benefit of conservation though, it's for the benefit of humans who, still in the 21st century, get a sick pleasure from killing the innocent who have no way at all to defend themselves, who pose no threat to them and have done them no harm.
One has to wonder how we can possibly claim to be a civilised society when such barbaric slaughterfests are allowed.
CatrinaC, London says...
6:48pm Fri 25 Jul 08
We have already won the argument, the birds ARE sentient individuals who can feel pain and suffer etc.
"so you resort to damaging the property of others"
I think I see what your difficulty is - you very, very mistakenly think inanimate property is of greater importance than the lives of innocent and defenceless sentient individuals...you are wrong.
"there can be no excuse for that, why dont you channel your efforts into discovering why many native species are disappearing?"
The reason such is done is to STOP the killing of innocent and defenceless sentient individuals. Those who understand morality know there is NO excuse for killing the innocent and defenceless for entertainment.
"Anarchy cannot be allowed to prevail"
It isn't anarchy it is freedom-fighting.
"there is enough bullying in this country"
Laughable, clearly it is not those who try to save lives who are bullies, the bullies are those who enjoy killing the innocent and defenceless.
albion, west riding says...
9:31pm Fri 25 Jul 08
What about the fact that most game birds are reared for this purpose and wouldnt exist without shooting?
What about the fact that game on this moor are already driven onto adjoining land for shooting purposes? So all that is happening is the venue is changing and the council makes some much needed money, and the moorland gets some much needed maintenance (it has been very neglected since shooting stopped and the water companies revised their catchment maintenance plans.
As for your bullying remarks, what about people who have been assaulted or lost their employment due to the activities of animal rights activists? Mind you it hasnt worked with the hunting fraternity has it? last year there were more hunts and more kills than ever!
CatrinaC, London says...
2:45am Sat 26 Jul 08
Same as all the other cruel traditions that have ended because of moral progress.
"What about the fact that most game birds are reared for this purpose and wouldnt exist without shooting?"
What about it? It is depraved to breed sentient individuals in order to kill them for fun.
"What about the fact that game on this moor are already driven onto adjoining land for shooting purposes? So all that is happening is the venue is changing and the council makes some much needed money, and the moorland gets some much needed maintenance (it has been very neglected since shooting stopped and the water companies revised their catchment maintenance plans."
Thank you for making my point that 'It isn't for the benefit of conservation though, it's for the benefit of humans who, still in the 21st century, get a sick pleasure from killing the innocent who have no way at all to defend themselves, who pose no threat to them and have done them no harm.'.
"As for your bullying remarks, what about people who have been assaulted or lost their employment due to the activities of animal rights activists?"
What about them?...well I expect they are very, very thankful that ARAs show them far, far more decency and compassion than they show to their victims.
Do they really think the public has any sympathy for people who take others' lives for fun, who get pleasure from killing the innocent and defencess, for people who whinge on because they are victims of their own ethics albeit to a far, far lesser degree than they themselves advocate, for people who are hypocrites who don't like the tiniest, tiniest taste of their own medicine.
"Mind you it hasnt worked with the hunting fraternity has it? last year there were more hunts"
So more people want to join 'hunts' since the ban on hunting foxes...perhaps they didn't join before because they didn't like the idea of hunting down sentient individuals.
"and more kills than ever!"
Hmmmm...you are claiming that the hunts are breaking the law...that hunters are criminals...that it's ok to break laws that don't suit you...how interesting.
albion, west riding says...
6:45am Sat 26 Jul 08
Regarding your remarks about public sympathy, they dont care! as they wolf down their Greggs pasties, filled with meat from slaughtered animals (no mention from you about the welfare of such animals) i have seen first hand what goes on in meat production and feel much better about hunting my own meat as a result of it.
Any conservation plan that the local council came up with would i am sure be carried out by the gamekeeper and his assistants, but you wouldnt know anything about that would you? neither would you know about the very poor condition of the moor since shooting stopped, or the fact that the few grouse that lived on the moor after shooting stopped were virtually wiped out by disease and were replenished in number by birds bred and supplied by the shooting fraternity, even though there was no shooting taking place there, you dont know these things because you have probably never set foot on the moor, let alone seen it, (we dont come and tell you how to go about things in London, where it seems hunting and killing people is a popular sport, how uncivilised is that?).
sentinel, the north says...
9:28am Sat 26 Jul 08
sentinel, the north says...
9:51am Sat 26 Jul 08
So preventing it is a pointless exercise designed to simply get one up, without studying the consequences.
CatrinaC, London says...
2:00pm Sat 26 Jul 08
Perhaps they'd stop inflicting their tiresome whingeing on us then :)
"no mention from you about the welfare of such animals"
That's because I was commenting on this story, happy to discuss animal rights if you want to.
"I have seen first hand what goes on in meat production and feel much better about hunting my own meat as a result of it."
You don't have to eat meat to survive or be healthy so you are taking others' lives, ending THEIR time alive here on our shared planet, simply because you can - I ask you to think about, to consider this...their lives belong to THEM just as yours belongs to you.
"...neither would you know about the very poor condition of the moor since shooting stopped..."
Goes to show then the killers not interested in conservation at all, only a way to be able to get sick pleasure from killing the innocent and defenceless - if they can't do that they are not interested.
I cannot understand at all why anyone would get pleasure from deliberating ending another's life, from taking others' lives - the birds are no threat to them, those birds have done them no harm.
I wonder if deep down those taking part in such slaughterfests feel deeply ashamed at taking such advantage of the inequality of power - an organised gang carrying lethal weapons against innocent birds who have no way at all to defend themselves. That goes against any sense of fairness or decency, do those people have no respect whatsoever?
"you dont know these things because you have probably never set foot on the moor, let alone seen it, (we dont come and tell you how to go about things in London"
Cruelty isn't a regional concept.
"where it seems hunting and killing people is a popular sport, how uncivilised is that?"
Very uncivillised but all the more reason to lead by example AGAINST killing instead of giving the message it's fun to kill and it's ok to kill as long as you don't care about the victims.
CatrinaC, London says...
2:18pm Sat 26 Jul 08
sentinel wrote:Preventing eg child abuse on the moor won't stop children being abused but that's NOT a reason to allow it on the moor.
The facts are that the shooting will continue on private land around the moor, as it does now, so why not take advantage of this offer which will stock up council coffers, help moorland maintenance and prevent the likely extinction of red grouse on the moor? Preventing shooting on this moor wont save a single bird, its just a case of getting one up and is pointless.
The reason not to so 'take advantage' is the same reason not to take advantage of any group's desire to expolit / enslave / kill other sentient individuals - it's morally abhorrent and unacceptable and that is the message that society should be sending out.
albion, west riding says...
11:46am Mon 28 Jul 08
Not eating meat can lead to illness, just as much as over indulgence can, the expert opinion is for moderation and balance.
As most of the worlds terrorism is carried out by people claiming to be acting in the name of Islam, are you in favour of banning them? or motorists because some kill and maim and all apart from a few electric ones pollute directly and the electric ones use power produced by polluting means, so are you in favour of banning them?
Factory farming? none organic fruit and vegetable production? none imported foods? preservatives? dirty hospitals? birth control?
Suddenly we are back in the age of the vegetable garden and hen run, no problem for me, i was brought up to it, and the harsh winter when food stocks are low and its hunt or starve! i could manage, could you?
It pobably wont ever happen, but if it does it will be down to the ban-it brigade such as yourself.
Whatever your opinion of these things and the people who do them, i will carry on doing as i have always done be it in private or on the said moorland, and nothing you can say will alter my views until the day i die (which might be sooner than expected if some of your kind have their way).
Your sayYour Bradford
Add your comment
Register for a FREE Bradford Telegraph and Argus account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
CatrinaC, London says...
2:00am Fri 25 Jul 08
It isn't for the benefit of conservation though, it's for the benefit of humans who, still in the 21st century, get a sick pleasure from killing the innocent who have no way at all to defend themselves, who pose no threat to them and have done them no harm.
One has to wonder how we can possibly claim to be a civilised society when such barbaric slaughterfests are allowed.