Hunt Saboteurs will be active on the Grouse Moors of the North on the 12th August as the Grouse shooting season opens. Past years have seen shooters staying away from the moors on the Twelfth itself following successful actions organised by the Hunt Saboteurs Association. However, protestors will be scouring the moors to make sure the grouse escape unharmed.
HSA spokesperson Nathan Brown explained “Based on recent years we know that many traditional venues for the Inglorious Twelfth will not be hosting any shooting. We will still be vigilant and Where they are shooting we aim to stop them.”
Studies have blamed gamekeepers for the routine illegal destruction of eggs and shooting of adult birds of prey on Grouse Moors – including the endangered Hen Harrier. Numerous other wildlife crimes have been attributed to gamekeepers such as destruction of badger setts, illegal snaring and poisoning. The HSA spokesperson commented: “Rearing birds to be shot involves wiping out almost everything that moves bar the birds being reared. When the season starts on August 12th, people will pay large sums of money to shoot artificially bred grouse. Grouse shooting involves inflicting cruelty and carnage on animals on the moors all year round.”
Grouse moors are artificially managed environments that are annually burnt to promote heather growth. As a result, peat run off from the moors pollutes water in reservoirs. The water is then cleared using aluminium sulphate– thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease. In the past, excessive levels of aluminium sulphate have been found in water supplies in Grouse shooting areas.
Notes to Editors :-
Journalists are invited to join protestors as they scour the moors for the shooting parties in the week following the Twelfth.
We are the only organisation that works directly in the field to save wildlife through direct action.
