Air Arms Owners Club

Two young lads knocked this afternoon to say two cats had cornered an injured bird in our front garden. I moved the wheelie bins to find a fairly young (ish) Jackdaw with a really badly broken wing. Open wound and a complete snap at the elbow (for want of a better word). I picked the poor bugger up an the expected cawing ddnt happen. I put this down to the bird being completely knackered and almost starved to death.

I took it through the house and into the garage, grabbed the Webley Alecto, instructed our Ryan to give it three pumps and chamber a .22 Hobby. I administered the only real option that was sensible/right/whatever, job done, one dead bird. Over with in a second rather than being chased and killed by the moggies, which might have went on for some time.

I bagged the body up and dropped it in the wheelie bin. It was then that I started wondering where I stood legally, do I have the right to do the right thing, or is there a chance that the RSPCA for example, could intervene and say that I cant make that decsion? Im so used to doing the "right thing" during pest control that its just second nature now.

Just a thought thats been bugging me tonight

You did the right and humane thing. And if such an organisation thought otherwise then they need to examine their own morals and actions.

anyone with an ounce of intelligence would say you did the right thing.....but the RSPCA are a law unto themselves they would rather spend a fortune prosecuting you than seeing common sense

i wouldnt have wasted a pellet on it , two fingers under the chin , one behind the neck , pull back the head and pull the legs . job done .

you did the right thing though mate , a quick painless death was needed and was given , a job well done .

eboswan wrote:anyone with an ounce of intelligence would say you did the right thing.....but the RSPCA are a law unto themselves they would rather spend a fortune prosecuting you than seeing common sense

That is the exact point of my post Bri. They (RSPCA) seem to think that they are some kind of special ops unit that are there to serve an prpotect the fauna of the land. I bet they would try to say that an air pistol wasnt enough gun to dispatch a fookin Jackdaw!

I'd be interested to see how I stand in the eyes of the law if they (RSPCA) took it further. We all know it was the only humane thing to do, but is it legal in a none pest control sense?

My brother is an RSPCA Inspector and he would agree with shooting it. It wouldn't have made it to any kind of vet without dying from shock. In fact, the only time they would have a concern is if you use a low power air pistol to injure a mammal or a rifle to kill any protected species that was healthy. I'm sure you would all agree that airguns on foxes is wrong, well so do they.

You Defo done the right thing Geordie - it's not nice but as you say, a better way to go. The RSPCA person would probably have necked it at the van anyway !

I feel better now, thanks for the replies gents

Geordie wrote:I feel better now, thanks for the replies gents

Ah your a big softie really

Once they get to the point you have described, birds seldom make it back to recovery. Any kind of attempt to help it would only have caused prolonged pain. Well done. Needs must.