SGA concern over deer welfare

The Scottish Government’s proposal to abolish the close season for stags and allow them to be driven towards waiting guns by vehicles would immediately reduce wild deer to the status of vermin and see herds of iconic wild animals decimated on Scotland’s hills according to the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) which represents the country’s deer stalkers and wildlife managers.

SGA chairman Alex Hogg said it beggared belief that the Government would even consider the proposals for deer reform outlined in today’s Consultation for the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill, and warned that if they were implemented the general public would see deer killed at unprecedented levels and hills denuded of a cherished natural resource.

“By allowing deer to be shot year round, through the night and chased by vehicles towards waiting guns in order to increase the annual cull removes at a stroke the respect and reverence traditionally accorded to these animals by stalkers and wildlife managers,” Mr Hogg said.

“The close season is there for a reason. It allows these wild animals to rest at some of the most stressful times of year, particularly after the annual rut when they are exhausted and barely capable of running away. The public voted red deer as Scotland’s most iconic animal, and now our Government  wants to kill them like rats. We fail to see where the much quoted “public benefit” is in that.”

Mr Hogg added that the SGA had been working behind the scenes to change the minds of officials since January when the Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS) first raised the suggestion, but their views had been ignored.

 “We believe that rather than abolishing the seasons they should be reinforced in legislation with no-one allowed to take stags within the current closed dates unless a serious problem was developing on protected land or human lives were being endangered in potential road accidents. And we have made it clear that night shooting requires the highest degree of skill in order to prevent animals being wounded. Only the most experienced stalkers should do this work, and only in exceptional circumstances,” he said.

 “We would call on everyone to respond to the Government’s consultation and make it clear the measures being proposed are totally unacceptable in Twenty First Century Scotland.”

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