Evening fellow WAB'ers, I have a scenario which I need to run past people with how best to go about it.
Recently I have been noticing fewer animals and birds in my local haunt even the brazen ones such as crows and magpies, this area is a council owned public park/heath land.
About a week or so back I noticed some intact animal entrails with no body to be found which look to have been butchered from a carcass rather than a wild animal such as a
Fox leaving them, this I found very odd, it was located by an entrance to the public area where cars can be parked although they shouldn't as it is a private driveway. I have also witnessed a Labrador dog running back at the weekend to its owner complete with dead pigeon in mouth, the owner had no hunting equipment and looked to be a normal dog walker; again I was some what surprised.
This led me onto this afternoon where I took the dog for a walk at this public area as I usually do, upon walking down this private road previously mentioned to access the public place I noticed there was a small white van which I've seen parked here on a few occasions in the last couple of months as it always blocks one gate. I walked past the van and there was a note on the window which was from the owner of the house that uses the road; the note was asking the vehicle owner to not park in this place as it was private and not permitted whilst also semi blocking access to their property.
Whilst walking past I couldn’t help but notice a cage inside, so I peered in through the back door windows and the cage was a medium sized dog cage, but to the side of that I spied a rifle soft case that looked empty. My suspicions were now heightened as I ran through my mind what had been happening recently. I therefore shortened my route so that I could get the dog home and return back before sun down. As I returned and walked down the private road I saw two guys and a couple of jack russels returning towards the van (perfect timing), as I walked past the characters one was carrying a rifle hard case over his shoulder and the other was trying to put a rifle into the van before I got level with them. As I passed, I bid them good day and continued out of sight.
Now I’m sure that whatever these guys were doing I would presume that they weren’t up to any good, but I like to exhaust all avenues before pointing that condemning finger. I had previously resisted the urge to ring the police straight away as I wasn’t up to speed on what was legal and what was not, I didn’t fancy wasting police time. So I took note of the vehicle and registration and I thought I’d go home and investigate what you can do regarding fire arms in public. Now my limited investigation tonight tells me that what they were doing was illegal, unless they had specific aulthorisation which in this case would be from the local authority to shoot pest birds/animals to control infestation. I also took the liberty to vehicle check the registration which matches the make and model of the van, but when I ran it through an online insurance check database the vehicle came back as not insured, the insurance aspect is not guarantied but all the cars in my road came back as being insured. Interesting I thought.
So I’m now left at a point deliberating on what to do next. My motivation for doing this is that wildlife I believe is suffering, the guns are being carried in a public place, the guns are being used where not permitted. I will contact the local council tomorrow to speak with the local warden and ask if anyone has permission to shoot on the land in question, as I feel that these guys may return again and I’m sure I’ll be able to find the car again. If I do and there is evidence of the gun case in the back then I would be inclined to call the police out.
What are your views and opinions on this?