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Originally Posted by eeyore  Hi chris - I notice that HW is frozen and thus isnt likely to be replying to you. In my view the whole town / countryside thing is a red herring - there are plenty of people who have no idea about how the countryside actually works-- including a fair number of animal rights campaigners- and these predominantly dont live in the countryside , however there are also a number of people who live in the countryside who have no idea about wildlife including a number of those who think than anything with fur or feathers which isnt game is vermin.
At the end of the day where you live is far less important than your knowledge and experience - for example I live in a town but have spent my entire career working in the countryside.
I also agree that there is a tad of arrogance in what HW was saying but "country" people like him are often driven to this by people from the animal rights lobby laying down the "law" on the inequities of species control when they dont actually have the faintest idea about the realities of the situation
note that i'm not saying that you fall into this group, it is clear from your post above that you accept the need for occasional and responsible control but are concerned about the humaneness of the methods used - this is an admirable concern and one that I and indeed an number of country folk including quite probably HW can share.
It is also easier to engage in intelligent dialogue and debate, or indeed to agree to disagree, with someone whose concerns are based on fact rather than the emotive and rose tinted view of how the countryside should work which is common amonst many animal rights activists |
I don't disagree with much of what you say eeyore
but I do disagree with too much running down of people and organisations which work towards improving wildlife and farm welfare. I know there is a percentage of extremists who would do weirdo things and illegal activities, but the majority of people in the mainstream animal organisations, and some of the less mainstream too, are not like this. Yes, they have may have strong convictions, but usually they do their homework. What goes on the countryside can be pretty unpalatable if you not aware of it, sometimes I would really like a rose tinted view of the countryside rather than the reality which I see rather too much of. It is not that difficult to see exactly what goes on in the countryside. Also if it was not for campaigns over the last couple of centuries by people seen as nutters (basically) or eccentric, we would be looking at a less humane treatment of wildlife today. The strict dividing up of town and country people is fairly absurd these days. OK when people travelled no further than the nearby county town in their lives, but as country people are able as with everyone else to get on a plane and go Florida if they feel like it, and shop at Tescos, they are hardly living anymore in a state of isolation as in the old days.
What divides town and country, is field sports, and some methods of "pest control", along with some types of animal and poultry farming, which also divides people living in the countryside, and always has done. There are many people in rural communites not involved in traditional farming, or have a different attitude to farming, or working in the NHS, offices, solicitors, doctors etc etc., or working in other industries such as tourism. This is what makes me annoyed when the CA for instance think they are talking for all rural dwellers when they are really talking about their grass root supporters who are followers of field sports. Using snares to maintain a dwindling population of rare birds, is perhaps the only exception, although personally I think it's a pity our wildlife has come to this pass. As for game shoots, the birds are reared in a similar manner to battery chickens, not very kindly, to me it's pathetic that anyone wants to do these kinds of sports at all, but someone makes the money out of it so that's all that matters
