‘Shoo don’t shoot’ proposals abolished

Pigeon shooters can breathe a sigh of relief following the news that Natural England has abolished its ‘shoo don’t shoot’ proposals following a General Licences consultation

The open consultation on proposed changes to the General Licences ended in May this year. The suggestion in the consultation was that anyone using the licence should be able to show that they had tried non-lethal methods of control such as scaring before resorting to the gun.

But this, along with nearly two thirds of other proposals on bird control, has not been implemented.

Shooting organisations, which lobbied hard against many of the proposed changes, have welcomed the news.

Countryside Alliance Executive Chairman Barney White-Spunner said: “The proposal that people should have to scare pigeons before shooting them was always complete nonsense, so we welcome the fact that Natural England has largely listened to the concerns and experience of those who manage the countryside.”

The NGO called it a ‘victory for common sense and the countryside’. Charles Nodder, the NGO’s Political Adviser, said: “Gone is the proposal to take jays, jackdaws and collared doves off the General Licence. Equally, it should now still be possible to continue to control the hooded crow in England. What’s more, an attempt by NE to give itself new powers to deny someone the right to operate under a licence on suspicion of wildlife crime but without a court verdict of guilt has been scrapped.”