SPCA calls for guga hunt ban

The “barbaric” practice of beating gannet chicks to death during a cull on a Scottish island should end, the Scottish SPCA has said.

So-called guga hunting involves people from Ness on the Isle of Lewis sailing to the uninhabited island of Sula Sgeir to hunt and kill the birds for eating.

Every August, thousands of chicks are plucked from the cliff tops and hit on the head.

The charity has written to the Scottish Government asking it to revoke the licence which allows the practice. It said the methods used in the cull cause the birds unnecessary suffering.

Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said. “The suffering starts before any attempt to kill takes place because the chicks are hauled from cliff tops using nooses attached to long poles, which in itself will terrify the birds.

“Scottish Natural Heritage”

“They are then struck on the head with a heavy implement until dead. A competent person may kill one or two birds outright with a single blow but in our opinion most will take more than one blow to be killed.

“We would expect other animal welfare and conservation organisations to be supportive of a move to bring to an end a barbaric and inhumane practice which causes unnecessary suffering to thousands of young gannets every year.”

He said citing “tradition” is not an acceptable reason for maintaining such a practice and that while 150 to 200 years ago the guga hunt was linked to the diet of the islanders, this is no longer the case.

Mr Flynn said: “It may be argued that the cull is sustainable or it simply doesn’t matter because the gannet is not an endangered species, but these arguments are irrelevant when suffering is being caused.

Sula Sgeir is around 40 miles north-east of Lewis and is a National Nature Reserve managed by Scottish Natural Heritage.

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