Monday 12 January 2015

SGA STATEMENT ON GAMEKEEPER COURT CASE

STATEMENT ON GAMEKEEPER COURT CASE:

A Spokesman for The Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: “The SGA has taken the ultimate sanction available to it, as an organisation. Mr Mutch will no longer hold SGA membership.
The court has made its decision and Mr Mutch will now have to live with the consequences of his actions. 
On the wider general issue of wildlife crime in Scotland, there are many organisations united in ending wildlife crime, ourselves included, although some some would like to achieve that same worthy goal in different ways.
While committed to ending wildlife crime, the SGA hopes one day to see an enlightened approach where criminal sentences are part of a package which also includes empowering people with legal tools and alternatives to deal with  conflicts which can affect both their businesses and wider conservation. Only the most blinkered will fail to grasp that new adaptive measures to tackle conflicts are sorely needed, to meet modern realities.
Currently the SGA feels this part of the package is lacking and there are insufficient legal tools available to people experiencing genuine conflicts; people who want to resolve them in a scientific manner which balances both economics and conservation.
As an organisation, the SGA will continue to campaign for these legal alternatives to be made available so that wildlife crime can be tackled at its root and can therefore be ended in Scotland.”