Open letter to Environment Minister about wildlife crime reporting

The animal protection charity OneKind has written an open letter to the Environment Minister to seek an urgent review of how willdife crime reports are handled. This follows a decision by the Crown Office, who decided not to prosecute after a gamekeeper was filmed, reportedly on Glenlochy Moor, beating crows to death with a stick inside a crow cage trap. The video evidence was ruled inadmissable as it was suspected it formed part of a covert ‘surveillance’ operation by a field officer working for OneKind. The wider implications of the decision not to prosecute are worrying, especially for raptor fieldworkers who legitimately visit sporting estates to monitor raptor breeding attempts, but whose evidence in a suspected wildlife crime report may be classed as part of a ‘surveillance’ operation. Members of the public are being encouraged to sign the open letter.

Full details: http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/your-chance-to-sign-an-open-letter-to-the-environment-minister-about-the-problems-of-wildlife-crime-reporting-in-scotland