The key word for me is “deterrent”. It comes down to how wildlife crimes are considered by society in general and by our courts and how wildlife is considered by our society. Words such as “pest” are used. Particular animals are described using language that makes things easier and, seemingly, less thought has to be used about controlling those animals than others.
The League Against Cruel Sports is moving into looking at the reform of grouse moors in Scotland, and that has taken us into the issue of the use of general licences. It seems to us that, with the use of fairly low levels of corroboration in evidence, vast swathes of animals are killed because they are deemed to be pests. The word “pest” is used because the animal endangers another animal. Very often, that other animal is a red grouse. The reason why red grouse are protected is to ensure that there are more red grouse to shoot for entertainment. As members can imagine, an organisation that is called the League Against Cruel Sports is not best pleased by that situation. The success of a grouse shooting estate is measured by the number of grouse that are shot on it. That means that it needs to have more grouse, which means that grouse need to be protected from so-called pests.
The League Against Cruel Sports recognises that general licences are permissible under the law, but there are grey areas. A professional whose job is to ensure that there are as many red grouse as possible might look at using methods that go beyond the general licence and become illegal. We welcome any extension of the penalties because of the deterrent effect.
Vicarious liability is also very important. We heard earlier about a shop assistant selling alcohol to a minor, in which case it is the owner of the off-licence who can be found guilty of an offence. There is a world in which the owner of the off-licence demands that the shop assistant sells alcohol to minors because that can bring in more money. I do not think that that happens in this context. I have seen many examples of successful prosecutions of countryside professionals whose job is to make sure that there are more grouse, but the levels of sanction are not a deterrent. In a recent case, which I will not name, I was particularly struck by the proceedings and by the reaction of the individual and the reaction of the media. It became quite a media circus. An individual had been prosecuted for a number of wildlife crime offences, and there was a big media turnout on the day of the sentencing. The question was, “Will he go to jail?” because the range of offences was hideous; they were broad and nasty and covered the gamut of wildlife crimes that are possible in that situation.
Two things happened on that day. First, the sheriff made it clear that he felt that he should have been able to give a custodial sentence but could not. He felt that the community order did not reflect the scale of the crime that was committed. Secondly, there was a media hoo-ha outside the court because the media wanted to get a photograph of the individual concerned. The media mistakenly all went around to the back of the court and, when the individual who had just been sentenced came out the front, he danced a jig of relief and satisfaction. I watched him do it. He ran down the road and was followed by the media, and the picture that was published was of the individual putting two fingers up to the photographers.
As somebody working in the world of animal and wildlife welfare, I stood there thinking about what that says about the level of acceptance of deliberate acts of cruelty to animals that are carried out to ensure that there are more of another animal that can be shot for entertainment. I went away that day thinking that that is not right. There should be a deterrent. There should be a feeling that, if I do something wrong in this way, I will go to jail, and if I make my staff do something like that, I should also be at risk of going to jail.
That is why I can only commend the bill for its deterrence impact. I like the flexibility in the bill. It recognises that animal welfare can be affected by negligence. That is a different world, in which we are talking about re-education and learning about socialisation with animals and the way in which we relate to animals. However, if it is your job to kill as many animals as possible, I do not think that we can do much in the way of rehabilitation.
As I say, we welcome the bill more or less as it stands, but lots of steps need to be taken in the public domain to give people a greater understanding of the sentience of all animals and why some animals are declared to be a pest that is simply to be eradicated.