Welfare group Animal Aid said it was inhumane to shoot grey squirrels and wrong to scapegoat them. But Mr Walmsley said sustainable culling of grey squirrels gave "our native breed a chance to repopulate". Kate Fowler, head of campaigns at Animal Aid, said: "Grey squirrels don't go round bashing red squirrels on the head and it's a bit rich to blame grey squirrels for the demise of the reds."
She said: "There are lots of reasons why red squirrels are in decline in parts of the country, largely to do with things like forestry plantations and pesticides. Grey squirrels are hardier and more able to adapt, so if you cut down a forest, the greys can live in what we leave behind. The reds can't." She said shooting squirrels was a "pretty inhumane" way to control numbers as it was hard to get a clean shot at them.
Mr Walmsley, from Old Dalby, said: "At the end of the day they are not a native breed and have nearly eliminated our red squirrels. I'm a strong believer that if they are sustainably culled it gives our native breed a chance to repopulate." He added: "We live in the countryside and a large proportion of squirrels I get myself - I go out with a rifle and shoot them. There is a demand and I think it's fair enough." Mr Walmsley, whose family-run firm also makes crocodile and zebra pies, said people liked to try something a "bit different".
4 comments:
Grey squirrels are vermin. Animal Aid needs to stfu and fo.
Also, are these people actually saying it's more humane to raise animals in captivity before killing them for food than to hunt wild animals, or are they a vegan organisation opposed to all consumption of animals?
I do not see a problem, the animal is being eaten and are not mindlessly being killed.
As long as it's greys that they're killing, fire away.
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