Thanks for all that info,the 50ft rule is a non starter,thats probably why it was chased on foot to the edge of the canal,I,ll report what I saw to the WLO and at the very least it,s on record should anything else occur.
If the shooting was taking place very close to the canal edge (Geoff? Rob?) then the 50ft rule about the discharge of guns near to a public footpath eg the towpath applies.
I only saw the gunmen walking away from the scene of the... erm... "incident", so i'm not sure of how close to the canal they were when shots were fired i'm afraid.
Guy Shorrock from RSPB Investigations rang me about another matter today, so I asked him about this. Basically you are right, Tim, but the farmer (who also owns the land an the shooting rights in this instance). If the shooting was taking place very close to the canal edge (Geoff? Rob?) then the 50ft rule about the discharge of guns near to a public footpath eg the towpath applies. I have left a message with Mandy North to ring me. There arenew Environmental Damage Regs 2009 which may apply.
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Judith Smith
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Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
Canada Geese can be shot all year round in England only (not Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) under General Licence WML GEN 1.05 to 'prevent damage or disease'. They must not be shot with lead shot. The shooter 'must be satisfied that non-lethal methods of resolving the problem are ineffective or impracticable' though this is ineffectually left up to the judgement of the individual! (so what is the point of including it in the legislation?). I expect that permission would need to tbe granted by the owner of the shooting rights to the land (not necessarily the land owner more often than not) and the law applies to shooting within 50ft of public highways 'with vehicular access' in any case. Only general laws of wilfully endangering the public seem to apply to footpaths and bridleways.
-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Friday 24th of April 2009 10:25:52 AM
I have already emailed, amongst others, our county WLO about this. The shooting took place on private land, but there is an issue of disturbance to the SSSI within the 2km exclusion zone which is supposed to exist round SSSIs. The same situation as prevailed with the microlites. This field is only about 50ft ie the width of the canal, from the SSSI boundary and all the nesting birds were put up tonight. Shooters would have to be careful of shooting within 50ft of a public footpath ie the towpath, which is not permitted. Needless to say I have not received a reply from Natural England (now there's a surprise) so I have re-sent it to another officer there, along with my second email tonight. W.r.t. the status of Canada Goose as a quarry species outside the open season, my understanding is that it has been classified as a pest species alongside various corvids, Woodpigeon etc and can be shot at any time as long as the farmer can prove damage to crops. In this case, the fields are used for cattle and there are a lot of Canada Geese at times on there - I suppose they will be eating a lot of grass.
-- Edited by Judith Smith on Thursday 23rd of April 2009 10:39:46 PM
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Judith Smith
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Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
Two things I know to be true (because I have first hand experience of them):
A liscence is indeed necessary to shoot Canada Geese
Discharging a firearm in a public place (and it's doubtful they have the required liscence for said firearm anyway) is a very serious offense, ultimately punishable by a prison sentance. The trouble is that was the field a public place? Farmer's land?
Mr Heaton's your man regarding the cruelty case and I'm sure there's someone on this forum whose ex-cop, if my memory serves me correctly?Either way the details for the county Wildlife Police Officer are on the website.
As far as I know Geoff, Canada Geese are now considered vermin and can be shot at any time of year. As far as shooting them on the floor, I suspect its not illegal.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
I,ll try to be brief and concise,I was watching the Ruff,s on Horrocks flash at 19.30 when I heard a shot which seemed a little close for comfort , I went onto the towpath and saw three men with shotguns fire three or four shots,from about 20 yards into a flock of feeding canada geese in the field between the culvert/stream and the jet ski lake,one wounded goose was chased by a man and a dog towards the canal then stamped on to finish it off the three men ,walked off carrying the dead goose after verbally abusing me for photographing the event.The question is ,legal? safe? I,m sure judith can advise,what should I do?.
