The Glorious Twelfth, The Grouse and the Guga.

Yesterday was the Glorious twelfth, start of the Red Grouse shooting season, described variously as important for the economy, mainly to tourism I think although what kind of tourist comes to shoot animals you decide. Later in August there is a traditional hunt, taking some men from Ness on the Isle of Lewis out to another island in the North Atlantic to kill Gannets (Guga) for food, a tradition that dates back several hundred years, at least to 1549 according to historic records. This letter sent to one of our local news websites discusses the issue of the calls for the ban on the guga contrasting with the silence related to the grouse shoot. I'm not sure I'd refer to the SSPCA as bunny huggers as it is them calling for a ban, along with some other individuals I've seen, but is there a point as to why they're calling for a ban. Publicity reasons? Because they tend not to discuss any other forms of hunting.

I spent a little time earlier today going through the SSPCA Website news section. The call to ban the guga hunt is shown in there, along with stories about individuals mistreating animals, abandoned dogs and also Train Driver Saves Swan. But there is nothing else on there about hunting in the last year that I could find, if you search about this, you find the RSPB referring to raptors being poisoned to protect the grouse numbers and trying to have people prosecuted for that - fair enough in my view. But nothing from the SSPCA. And correct me if I'm wrong but Guga are birds, so why are the SSPCA becoming involved? I appreciate there may be concern about hunting, but they don't condemn any other forms, they go on about cruelty to the Guga being killed, but nothing is said about shooting or fishing. Guga are killed by a blow to the head, done personally by an individual Nessman, and will be dead in seconds at most. As opposed to a bad shot on a grouse moor winging a bird, injuring it and watching it fall from the sky still alive. Which is cruel do you think?

I'm not calling for a ban on hunting, or shooting grouse, I don't have any problem with killing animals for meat. Killing for sport is an issue, but the Guga hunt is certainly not that. Battery farming is an issue, we're told we should eat free range meat, especially Chicken and I do try to, but no-one is making a fuss about that at the moment. Just about a traditional hunt of a sustainable species that has survived it for several hundred years, and will survive it on the numbers allowed for considerably more, without the intervention of those who try to preach about how these things should be done, without personal knowledge of it, and without considering more pressing issues of animal welfare. It just seems to me the Guga hunters are becoming an easy target for people, and if you want a debate on hunting for food, make it a broader one than targeting a small group hunting for a few thousand birds at most. And look at the meat you eat yourself and how it was killed.