Grey squirrel hunters have been slammed for creating a sick Facebook group where they boast about stalking and killing the animals.
The online group Grey Squirrel Hunters UK features hundreds of snaps of mutilated animal bodies alongside details of exactly how they were 'dispatched'.
Vigilante shooters claim they are doing endangered red squirrels a favour by dealing with their more successful American grey cousins.
One mother posted about quickly shooting a couple as her children looked on.
Julie Bailey joked below a snap of the children with a bloodied squirrel and their thumbs up: 'Very pleased with the silence of these two whilst this one got shot.'
Vigilante shooters claim they are doing endangered red squirrels a favour by dealing with their more successful American grey cousins
Others boasted to the group's 1,800 members that they would eat the carcasses.
Ste Snowy posted a picture of the animals after he had skinned them and said: '3 from the weekend all ready for the table (not mine though, haha!)'
The group claims it is a 'place for all grey squirrel hunters to chat, share ideas, stories, photos and log cull data'.
Almost 2,000 members come from across the UK and many have extremely high calibre rifles.Pictures and video show attackers taunting their prey before blasting them.
Animal welfare laws say it is legal to trap grey squirrels as long as they are killed humanely
Members discuss the best way to kill squirrels - with a shot to the brain or heart.
Distressing video shows the animals writhing on the floor after being blasted in the head so hard their eyes pop out.
One shooter - Jason Price - boasted: 'Quick zero. Clocked grey barking up an Oak...pulled the trigger and he took a lead pill and fell to the autumn cover woodland floor with a thump.'
Others kill female adults - undoubtedly leaving baby squirrels to starve as squirrels have litters in August and September.
But their red counterparts are lauded, with snaps of them being fed on bird tables regularly put up.
Their red counterparts are lauded, with snaps of them being fed on bird tables regularly put up
The Forestry Commission estimates there are just 140,000 red squirrels left thanks to the ever expanding American grey population, which is thought to stand at 2.5 million
Animal charities were quick to condemn the behaviour, saying no animal should suffer for a social media post.
Animal welfare laws say it is legal to trap grey squirrels as long as they are killed humanely.
But it is unlikely all shots are clean and animal rights campaigners say misses are common.
Killing greys is also highly unlikely to have any effect on the number of reds, as they are now confined to only a few areas of the British Isles.
The Forestry Commission estimates there are just 140,000 left thanks to the ever expanding American grey population, which is thought to stand at 2.5 million.
Animal charities were quick to condemn the behaviour, saying no animal should suffer for a social media post
A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said: 'The RSPCA believes that such killing should be done by trained, competent people, so that the animal dies without causing unnecessary suffering'
A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said the squirrel-killing group was 'distressing' and that video taken by hunters showed squirrels did not die immediately.
She said: ' While it is legal to kill grey squirrels, it must be carried out in a humane manner.
'The RSPCA believes that such killing should be done by trained, competent people, so that the animal dies without causing unnecessary suffering.
'This video appears to graphically demonstrate the suffering that occurs when a squirrel is not killed quickly and cleanly.
'The RSPCA is concerned about the welfare of all kinds of animals and believes that where control is needed to manage wild animals, control must not be interpreted solely as lethal control.
'We, along with other organisations, recently published a paper in Conservation Biology, arguing that all wildlife interventions must go through a process whereby all other non-lethal control methods are addressed first and that culling should be the last resort.
Elisa Allen, director of Peta, added: 'Squirrels are intelligent, social animals who ask for nothing from life but the chance to live it.
'They should not be callously gunned down for a laugh or social media post.
Almost 2,000 members come from across the UK and many have extremely high calibre rifles
Originally Posted by Wedwivwage
Reply With Quote