Well, it looks like the COPFS decision not to prosecute the individual who was filmed apparently beating crows to death with a stick inside a crow trap has struck a nerve (no pun intended). See here, here and here for background info.
The ensuing publicity has generated widespread public outrage, and now there’s an opportunity to channel that frustration into something positive. The charity OneKind, whose staff member filmed the gamekeeper apparently beating the trapped crows, has written an open letter to the Environment Minister, Stewart Stevenson, calling on him to ensure that all reports of wildlife crime are pursued by the authorities with the utmost vigour. Anyone who supports this view is encouraged to add their name to the letter (go here to view and sign the letter).
This is your opportunity to let your views be heard – it takes seconds to complete – please do it, even if you’ve already written to the Minister (and we know many of you have), so these seemingly absurd legal obstacles can be examined and reviewed, with urgency and with transparency. This ridiculous situation, where the witness becomes the accused and the alleged perpetrator(s) escapes scot free, has gone on for far too long.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Once again, a big thank you from OneKind for your support. In just a few hours, the Open Letter has already gathered 525 signatures – an astonishing groundswell of indignation and concern about the difficulties in the way of those who seek to protect Scotland’s wild birds and animals. Hopefully we’ll have to deliver the letters in a wheelbarrow – it’s early days yet!
Good luck with it, Libby – we’re very happy to be supporting you and pleased to hear about the initial number of signatures. People are angry about the continuing persecution incidents on game-shooting estates, and especially angry that the so-called robust enforcement measures, that we’d been promised would be used to tackle the problem, are still not evident.
The experience of your field officer is not an isolated one. Several people have now contacted us to tell us about their experiences when reporting suspicious activity on shooting estates. All of them have been accused of covert ‘surveillance’. In some of these cases, even with evidence such as a confirmed poisoned bird or a poisoned bait, no further action has been taken! We’ll be exposing some of these cases on the blog in due course – one case in particular, concerning a very high profile estate, makes for an interesting read. Some cases we can’t report just yet because the identity of the witnesses needs to be protected.
no one in aurthority in the uk really cares!! it is all about friends in high places!