Shropshire tops list for bird cruelty
Shropshire has been placed at the top of a 'sickening' report into cruelty against birds.
According to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Shropshire has the highest number of reported offences in the Midlands.
The society's annual Birdcrime report said in Shropshire during 2011 there were 15 reported cases of poisoning, shooting and trapping for buzzards, barn owls, hawks and other species.
The next worst offending Midlands county, Derbyshire, had 13 reported incidents.
The worst offending places in England were North Yorkshire and Lancashire, with 40 and 42 cases respectively.
The Shropshire incidents – seven against birds of prey and eight against non-birds of prey – make up more than 16 per cent of all reported bird cruelty cases in the Midlands.
They include a barn owl being shot in Clunton.
Cuan House Rescue Centre, in Much Wenlock, takes in hundreds of sick and injured birds each year. Owner Megan Morris-Jones said the poisoning and trapping of wild birds was a national problem, but she had recently seen a number of local birds with gunshot wounds.
She said: "People shooting birds in Shropshire is a problem. A lot of the birds that come to us have injuries caused by pointless cruelty. A lot of injuries we have seen during the last five years are caused by pellets fired from airguns.."
Fen Gerry, spokeswoman for Shropshire RSPB, said: "Too little has been done over the years to stop these sickening attacks."
RSPB conservation director Martin Harper, said that 'birds of prey continue to die at the hands of those who want to remove them from our countryside'.
Nevin Hunter, head of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, added: "It is unacceptable and there is a need to work to address it across the UK with the help of all partner agencies."
Reported bird cruelty cases in Shropshire in 2011:
March: Shooting in Clunton – a dead barn owl was examined and found to have died of extensive hemorrhaging due to six puncture wounds from shot.
April: Poisoning – peregrine falcon tested positive for diazinon/dimpylate (sheep dip). Deliberate poisoning
August: Shootings – Reports to the RSPB of people shooting at goshawks and buzzards in the county
RSPB bosses say across Shropshire during 2011 there were 11 other reports of incidents against both birds of prey and non-birds of prey, including offences such as trapping.
By Peter Finch
