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More than 120,000 individuals have signed a petition that calls for an end to the grey squirrel cull in the UK.
The petition – handed yesterday to The Wildlife Trusts, which will facilitate the culling – was started by Courtney Scattergood after reading about the plans for a mass grey squirrel cull in the media.
The grey squirrel culling would take place in parts of North and Mid Wales, Northern England, and Northern Ireland.
National animal rights organization Animal Aid, grey squirrel rehabilitators Urban Squirrels, and petition site Care2 have also joined the cause.
The petition
Scattergood started the petition to challenge The Wildlife Trusts on their decision to cull grey squirrels due to the decrease in the population of red squirrels.
She believes the decision ‘will result in no effect on the red squirrels’ population, whilst innocent grey squirrels are being bludgeoned to death.’
The petition states “The mass culling of grey squirrels is not only cruel, but an ineffective way of conserving red squirrels.
“Research shows that the biggest cause of red squirrel decline is human activity, namely deforestation, habitat loss, and previous persecution.”
‘Innocent’
Care2 Campaigner Beth Granter said: “The Trusts are greatly loved in Britain, so many Care2 members were horrified to find out that they are responsible for the needless slaughter of potentially thousands of animals.”
She was joined by the founder of Urban Squirrels, Natalia Doran: “The greys are innocent!”
“The case against them is based on a faulty and outdated conceptual framework of alien versus native. It deals in half-truths, outright lies and huge exaggerations.
“The persecution of grey squirrels has no conservation value and is based on faulty science. It must stop.”
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