Is it illegal to kill a wild animal at work?

[SilverDoe]

Posting for traffic. Is illegal/possible to pursue for animal cruelty if someone kills a wild animal in their work place?

I have been googling but I can only find information really regarding livestock and pets.

“draramallama

ScrollingLeaves
The OP’s husband heard the exchange of words.

When my husband tells me what he has heard, I don’t think of it as ‘hearsay’.

So no, I don’t think this is a text book definition of it.
It's still the legal definition, mate.“

I am talking about the spirit of the meaning not the legal definition.

I bet the CIA, Foreign Office and such people get a lot of important information from ‘over hearing’ things being discussed though, however they define their sources.

@Cherrysoup

Magpies are pests and will raid the nests of anything they can and kill and eat the babies. If it kept going into the shop, I don’t blame him for killing it.

Charming!

All the hideous people on this thread saying he was within his rights to kill the bird need a bit of a reality check.

IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO KILL A WILD BIRD IN THE UK.

Penalties that can be imposed for criminal offences in respect of a single bird, nest or egg contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an unlimited fine, up to six months imprisonment or both.

Christ, didn't this thread turn out even crazier than the title!

@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat no one is going to end up being charged for the death of a magpie. If he’d strangled a Gyrfalcon in front of a room full of witnesses or there was video evidence of him stealing eggs from an Osprey nest he might, possibly, if he was very unlucky, end up going to court.

@ScrollingLeaves

The OP’s husband heard the exchange of words.

When my husband tells me what he has heard, I don’t think of it as ‘hearsay’.

So no, I don’t think this is a text book definition of it.

The law disagrees with you.

Even if the husband reported back what the woman had said with 100% accuracy we don't know that the woman actually had the right end of the stick. So even that is just hearsay.

@SilverDoe

Oh I do hope I end up in court, I really do.

I do not have a habit of this at all, but unsurprisingly to everyone but you, when innocent, intelligent little animals are killed for no good reason, I do have the ability to be angry and feel it should be addressed.

Some posters (sadly quite a few) seem to think it is perfectly ok to kill an animal for no real reason.

[quote PossiblyDreaming]@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat no one is going to end up being charged for the death of a magpie. If he’d strangled a Gyrfalcon in front of a room full of witnesses or there was video evidence of him stealing eggs from an Osprey nest he might, possibly, if he was very unlucky, end up going to court.[/quote]
Yeah, it's only a magpie, isn't it? They're ten a penny. After all, who cares?

Some people will think that about about lions and elephants. Not many of those left, is there?

Wild birds have been on the decline since the 70s. Numbers are up by a significant amount but some species are almost 100%. Magpies are more adaptable than some of the smaller birds but that doesn't mean we should take anything for granted.

The law applies to ANY WILD BIRD and people have been fined and sentenced for killing seagulls.

www.discoverwildlife.com/news/man-sentenced-for-killing-gull/

www.totum.com/news/pensioner-fined-over-gbp1-000-for-killing-seagull-that-tried-to-steal-his

It was friendly, it would approach people and do stuff like pull their shoe laces which I've read is a sign of play.

This would annoy me a lot, I would consider this a pest

@Cherrysoup

I take it you’re vegan?

Are you saying Magpies shouldn’t have the right to eat?

But the issue isn't cruelty to wildlife. The issue is people jumping to conclusions on the basis of one overheard conversation - and throwing wild accusations around, including a complaint being made to someone's employer.
Hopefully the employer's complaints department will send the standard FOAD email to say they are 'investigating the matter' and OP will settle down. They might ring the manager and say 'What's all this then' but if he says 'I called in pest control and some of the staff were upset' that will be the end of it.

@OfstedOffred

It was friendly, it would approach people and do stuff like pull their shoe laces which I've read is a sign of play.

This would annoy me a lot, I would consider this a pest

Would you kick it then? Stamp on it's head? Stick it in the bin? It's only a magpie after all.

While you're at it, have a go at the puppy tied up outside the shop.........

Jesus wept

“Inspectorslack

ScrollingLeaves
The OP’s husband heard the exchange of words.

When my husband tells me what he has heard, I don’t think of it as ‘hearsay’.

So no, I don’t think this is a text book definition of it.”

“The law disagrees with you.“

As I have already explained, I am not talking about ‘law’ but about but about how I, in my life, judge the credibility of an event as described by other people depending on what I know about those other people.

Interesting perhaps to think of say, Crime Watch, where the police actually look for leads of any kind and then sift through to get to the truth.

Some posters (sadly quite a few) seem to think it is perfectly ok to kill an animal for no real reason.

@mydogisthebest Would you kill rats or have someone come out to kill rats or mice in your house or shed? Do you squish spiders or swat flies? Use pesticide in your garden? Step on slugs and snails? Kill moles that dig your garden up? Do you think killing animals for food for you and your dog is a good enough reason to slaughter chickens, sheep, cattle or are you both vegan?

I just wonder whether you've really stopped to think this through.

@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat I promise you, I work in bird conservation. It is, sadly, almost impossible to prosecute. Just look at the evidence for what Prince Harry did to the Hen Harriers. Very occasionally if someone batters a herring gull to death in front of a crowd and there is sufficient outrage the CPS can be pestered enough to act. For a magpie that was entering a shop though? Not a chance.

But also @Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat I’m guessing by your username you have a cat. As such you have absolutely no moral authority whatsoever to comment on cruelty to wild birds.

@PossiblyDreaming

But also *@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat* I’m guessing by your username you have a cat. As such you have absolutely no moral authority whatsoever to comment on cruelty to wild birds.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Mamamia7962

OP if the magpie kept going into his shop then I'm sure he is legally allowed to kill it as it is being a nuisance. Adults and children encouraging it to be friendly didn't do it any favours. It's a wild bird.

Magpies are predators and take baby birds and eggs out of smaller birds' nests to eat.

If the magpie kept going into a food shop, what would you like the manager to do? Ignore the risks to health for the staff and customers there bye breaking the law? The real culprits are people who encouraged the bird to interact the humans for their own amusement.

@PossiblyDreaming

But also *@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat* I’m guessing by your username you have a cat. As such you have absolutely no moral authority whatsoever to comment on cruelty to wild birds.

Talk about scraping the barrel!

Oh, come on @Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat. A cat owner complaining about how inhumane it is for a shopkeeper to kill a wild bird? It’s not scraping the barrel, it’s outright hypocrisy. You have actively chosen to have an animal that does this daily and decimates local wildlife populations but you’re getting all self righteous about how it’s wrong when people do it. You are directly responsible for your animals.

I don’t think you’re in the wrong for having a cat. Not do I think the shopkeeper is in the wrong for killing a bird causing a health hazard in his business. As I said, I work in bird conservation and I’d never get anything done if I started writing emails every time I knew a bird had been killed. But you can’t deny that you’re a hypocrite.

Whydoesthecatalwaysdo that?

Talk about scraping the barrel!

You're joking, surely? 27 million birds killed by cats each year in the UK annually. That the RSPB's figures.

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/cats-and-garden-birds/are-cats-causing-bird-declines/

100 million animals estimated to be killed annually by domestic cats — mice, rats, shrews, voles, rabbits and anything else that moves. Of course, some of their victims just get badly maimed and crawl off into a hedge to die slowly.

If you really care about wildlife don't keep a cat.

“Bravenheart

You’re unhinged.”

Who is?

That seems a rude thing to tell someone.

@PossiblyDreaming

You're jumping to conclusions. Where did I say I was a cat owner?

Yes, cats are an issue but so is pollution, intensive farming and urbanisation.

While you're suggesting wiping out cats, perhaps everyone should give up their car and stop shopping at budget supermarkets who don't give much of a fig about the environment.

The key here thing is the principle. The magpie might have been a nuisance in one person's eyes but not to everyone so it's not really okay to kill it for that reason. There are other ways of dealing with things and I'm sure this could have been resolved quite easily by other means. If people don't get outraged or upset by stuff like this the cycle will just continue. Next time it could be a sparrow or a woodpecker or a kingfisher. It could be a fox or a deer. It could be someone's dog barking outside the shop. Go out and give it a kick. What does it matter? After all, they're only animals.

What happens when the kid next door is crying? Do you go round with your mallet and sort it out? Oh no, because children are special lambkins..........

It might seem insignificant but there is a very strong link between violence against animals and domestic abuse. Is that the sort of world you want to live in? Where it's okay to wring a sparrow's neck because they just happened to be tweeting in the tree outside your window?