CA attacks RSPCA
The Countryside Alliance (CA) says the RSPCA's opposition to a grey squirrel cull reveals a flawed logic.
Rob Atkinson, head of wildlife science at the RSPCA, said: 'It's ethically dubious killing one species for the sake of another. Apart from all that it doesn't work. There's absolutely no point in doing it.'
Simon Hart, chief executive of the CA, says this reveals an alarming ignorance of wildlife management. He says population management, whether eradicating mink to save water voles or culling deer to protect habitats, is a vital conservation tool.
The government-funded cull, launched in Northumberland by the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership, has destroyed 15,000 greys so far. Paul Parker, head trapper, said: 'The problem is man-made and it should be up to us to rectify it.'
The endangered reds number about 140,000 in Britain, outnumbered by the estimated 2.5 million greys, who carry a squirrel-pox virus. The greys are immune to the virus but it can wipe out red populations.
The CA has attacked the RSPCA's position for valuing animal rights over wildlife and habitat management.
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Comments
Sarah
About the only think that annoys me about being physically disabled and using a wheelchair (other than being spoken to in SOME shops like I'm an alien with an IQ of 0) is that I can't get a gun and blast the brains out of grey squirrels. They are dirty filthy vermin responsible for the demise of the red squirrels - an important part of the UK eco-system.
Never again shall I consider supporting the RSPCA. The RSPCA need to remember that it is actually illegal to release a grey BACK in to the wild. There as yet to be a prosecution for this, but I want to know if a ROYAL society are breaking a law signed by Her Majesty by releasing trapped/injured grey squirrels after treating them... Would the RSPCA waste donations on saving rats?
As I can't do what others are doing (notably one wonderful man in Northumberland), I have started a petition at:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/saveoursquirrels/
Please sign it, or kill a grey squirrel for me...
Sarah
David Tyne
BBC NEWS | England | Berkshire | 'Give a rat a home' call by RSPCA3 Apr 2008 ... A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said: "To mark World Rat Day we are appealing for homes for some of the many rats that come into the care of the ...
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7329079.stm - 42k - Cached - Similar pages
T Rainey
Rob Atkinson, head of wildlife science at the RSPCA, said: 'It's ethically dubious killing one species for the sake of another. Apart from all that it doesn't work. There's absolutely no point in doing it.'
Is this the very same Dr Atkinson that is quoted in a Wildlife Magazine some time ago as thinking that wild bird rehabilitation is "unviable " ? I would be interested to know as wildlife rehabilitation is totally viable when undertaken correctly.
But back to the Grey Squirrel comments and the RSPCA`s strange support of protecting a Schedule 9 non indigenous species. Could the fact that as the RSPCA are now licensed to release these vermin have any bearing on their new devotion to a pest species and how long before we see the 80 million rats come under the protective blanket of the animal rights based animal charity the RSPCA. ?
david tyne
So, the Countryside Alliance "has attacked the RSPCA's position for valuing animal rights over wildlife and habitat management"? Have they not realised before that the RSPCA is now a full-blown animal rights organisation, to whom a badger infected with TB is more important than the health and well-being on any cow - let alone a sacred Hindu cow called Gangotri. The RSPCA have nothing to do with animal welfare - it's all about politics, banning hunting and culls and supporting that so-and-so Peter Hain.