A public appeal for information from Wiltshire Police Rural Crime Team (14th June 2022):
Information appeal
A dead kite was recovered from a public footpath close to Hens wood, Axford, Wiltshire on the 20/04/2022 following a report from the public. Further forensic work into the cause of death has found that the bird had been shot.
We are appealing for any information around the shooting of the Red kite or any person who may have been in the area on the 16/04/2022 who saw anything suspicious to contact the Wiltshire Rural crime team via 101 – quote crime report 54220038890
Raptor Persecution UK 
It really does take a “special” person to look at a stunning magnificent Red Kite or any bird of prey and then decide to shoot it!!!
Again, 2 months between the crime and the appeal for information. I don’t think Wiltshire Police are interested in investigating wildlife crime. When I approached them about a Buzzard found dead in suspicious circumstances they told me to contact the RSPCA!
In the end, my local vet x-rayed the bird FOC (it hadn’t been shot) and the RSPB (who had offered to pay for the x-rays if necessary) put me in touch with the Predatory Bird Monitoring Service, who now have the bird.
Last year I found 3 dead Buzzards, on the roadside, in the space of 3 weeks. I was suspicious in case there was foul play as I’ve never before seen a dead Buzzard, let alone 3 in as many weeks! I contacted the police who took my details and didn’t get back to me for over a week and when they did it turned out the wildlife crime officer was more interested in shooting and defending gamekeepers and talking about himself than he was interested in the dead Buzzards!!
I found out about the Predatory Birds Monitoring Scheme on the internet+they sent me everything I needed to send them the birds and after a v long delay of several months due to covid I did receive highly detailed informative reports in the birds deaths, all 3 Buzzards were young females involved in road traffic collisions.
The police never contacted me or the Predatory Birds Monitoring Scheme to find out any more information about the Buzzards so my whole experience with the police was v v disappointing
The deranged idiot who took pleasure in killing this beautiful creature is COWARD and he knows this. He reads this blog to see the impact of his actions, taking pleasure in all the hurt he has caused. There are many many more like him skulking around in the undergrowth with the same sick intentions. The good news for them is that they can legally hold gun licenses, no matter how sick they are!
It’s absurd to permit guns in the countryside (all washed down with alcohol)and yet should you wander along a town or city street carrying a weapon , in seconds would be surrounded by armed police …where is this invisible line …I’ve seen pheasant shoots setting off armed to the teeth ..all good fun ( apparently) and my cat was a target something I found appallingly common when I asked around the village .