Category Archives: shooting estates

Birds, birds of prey / raptor persecution, shooting estates, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Tomatin, Highland: Rory Parker

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CONVICTED (2023) | Moy Estate gamekeeper Rory Parker, born c. 1998, of Drumbain Cottage, Moy, Tomatin, Inverness IV13 7XW – shot and killed a protected bird of prey in a pre-meditated attack.

Rory Parker was fined £1,575 after he admitted shooting a sparrowhawk on the notorious grouse-shooting Moy Estate, which is owned by Celia Mackintosh but leased out to an unnamed tenant.

In a video filmed by an RSPB Scotland investigations team, Parker was seen firing two shots into the air as the bird, a protected species, flew overhead at Tom Na Slaite, Ruthven, on 16 September 2021.

The video shows a plastic “decoy” owl on a fence post, which the RSPB said was most likely being used to attract birds of prey.

Parker, who is stood near the owl, can be seen to raise a gun and fire two shots, before scrambling over moorland to collect a bird which is clearly still alive but injured enough that it cannot escape.

Raptor Persecution provide commentary on what happened next. They wrote: “{Parker is] calm and proficient as he stamps his foot/knee on the bird to crush it, before casually picking it up and retuning to his hiding place in the bush. It appears to be quite routine and he does not look at all disturbed at having just committed a serious wildlife crime.”

The land where the sparrowhawk was shot is used for pheasant and partridge shoots and is managed by a tenant of the Moy Estate.

The court heard police recovered two shotgun cartridges and feathers from the site of the sparrowhawk shooting.

In court, Parker admitted the offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Mark Moir KC, defending, told Sheriff Sara Matheson that his client had been in his job since he left school.

Mr Moir said: “He is deeply shameful of what he has done. He has brought the estate into disrepute and has now resigned.

“His firearms certificate is likely to be revoked as a result of this conviction. He should have been shooting pigeons and crows that day. Feral pigeons are a problem on the estate.

“However, the sparrowhawk flew over and there was a rush of blood. He says it was a stupid thing to do.”

Sheriff Matheson told Parker Scotland’s birds of prey were precious and deserved protection.

Following sentencing, RSPB Scotland said that parker was the 56th gamekeeper to be convicted of raptor persecution offences in Scotland since 1990.

Ian Thomson, head of investigations, said: “This conviction was the end result of exemplary partnership working between Police Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Wildlife DNA Forensics team at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture and the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit of Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.”

He said the persecution of birds of prey was continuing in Scotland “unabated”.

A spokesman for the Moy Estate said they had suspended Parker from his position after being made aware of the “unacceptable” incident. The spokesman further added that they are committed to maintaining the highest standards of game management.

Despite this assertion, the Moy Estate is currently under licence restrictions imposed by NatureScot in June 2022 after the police provided “robust evidence” that birds had been killed or taken illegally on the land.

All birds of prey are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and killing them is against the law, punishable by an unlimited fine and/or jail.

Shooting estates such as Moy may target them, however, for fear that they will predate and kill young grouse or eat eggs, reducing their numbers and making shooting less profitable.

BBC News
Press & Journal
Raptor Persecution

Birds, birds of prey / raptor persecution, shooting estates, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Brandon, Suffolk: Matt Stroud

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CONVICTED (2022) | gamekeeper Matthew Stroud, born c. 1976, of Keepers Cottage, Fengate, Weeting, Brandon IP27 0QF – illegally shot and poisoned birds of prey.

Stroud dosed dead pheasants with poison as bait to kill buzzards in woodlands near Weeting Heath and Breckland Forest, which are both protected sites.

Appearing at Norwich Magistrates Court he admitted shooting five buzzards and one goshawk, the poisoning of another buzzard, the laying of poison baits and illegal possession of poisons including strychnine.

He also became the first person convicted for the unauthorised release of game birds on a Special Protection Area (SPA).

Despite the gravity of his offences Stroud walked free from court with a paltry fine and a community sentence.

The court heard an investigation was launched when RSPB officers found a young pheasant dead in Belvedere Wood, Weeting, on August 19, 2021, that had been poisoned.

Police later also searched Stroud’s home where they found three dead buzzards that x-rays showed had been shot. Two pheasant carcasses with extremely high levels of strychnine and a poisoned common buzzard were found in Belvedere Wood, protected because of its internationally important population of stone curlews. His mobile phone was also found to contain photos of a dead goshawk and five dead buzzards.

Stroud, a self-employed gamekeeper at Fengate Farm, pleaded guilty to six counts of killing a common buzzard and of killing a northern goshawk, both protected species. He also admitted possessing four shotguns to kill wild birds, poison without a licence and storing poison incorrectly and releasing 3,400 pheasants into the wild contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Michael Horn, mitigating, said: “There has been a shoot in this area for over 300 years. In 2020 there were no shoots held for obvious reasons. The next year the defendant was, perhaps wrongfully and unlawfully, very keen to restart it.

“At the time these pheasants were being decimated by these buzzards. His livelihood was being decimated.”

Mark Thomas, head of RSPB Investigations UK, said: “It is difficult not to be disappointed with the outcome today considering the significance of the offences and combined efforts of the agencies involved.

“Laying poison baits out in the open is not only illegal but extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

“Baits like those being used at Fengate Farm present a deadly risk to any animal or person that might come across it. It is particularly troubling that this was happening on an SPA, a designated area where wildlife and nature should have the highest legal protection.”

PC Chris Shelley, Norfolk police rural crime officer, said: “This investigation is one of the biggest cases of its kind that we have dealt with in Norfolk. “Stroud’s actions were dangerous and inhumane – he shot and poisoned birds of prey as he saw fit, and at will, because it suited him to do so.

“He also used a highly dangerous poison – one that has been banned in the UK for the last 15 years – indiscriminately, which could have had a disastrous effect on other local wildlife and showed a scant disregard for the safety of others.”

In a statement the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) said: “There is no space for illegality in the countryside, nor in the shooting community.

“BASC has a zero-tolerance approach to the illegal killing of birds of prey. Shooting’s contribution to conservation efforts and the rural economy is too great to allow the criminal actions of a tiny minority jeopardise the ongoing benefits.

“Positively, these cases are becoming rarer and population levels of most UK birds of prey are at record highs, much of this is down to the conservation efforts of shooting interests.”

Sentencing | 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work; fined £692.

Eastern Daily Press

animal fighting / baiting, badger baiting, Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, Multiple Species, Organised Animal Crime, Serial Animal Abusers, shooting estates, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports, Worst of the Worst

Llanbedrog, North Wales: Rhys Davies

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CONVICTED (2022) | Rhys Owen Davies, born 12 December 1993, of Bwthyn Grug, Llanbedrog, Pwllheli LL53 7HN – kept five dogs for animal fighting and failed to treat their injuries.

Davies, who has now returned to his home town of Llanbedrog in North Wales, admitted keeping and training five Patterdale Terriers to fight animals, as well as failing to seek veterinary treatment for two which had sustained injuries from fighting.

Davies, a former gamekeeper at the Millden shooting estate* in Glenesk, Brechin, Angus DD9, also pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his firearms licence by having unsecured firearms and ammunition in his then home in Turnabrae House.

Davies kept trophy photos of dogs he used to fight and bait wild animals

The court heard that an employee of a photo print company contacted the SSPCA with serious concerns about the welfare of several dogs pictured in an order for 58 images placed by Davies.

Many of the dogs showed progressively more serious facial injuries over the period the images were taken and several males posing and digging into what looked like badger setts or fox dens. There were numerous images showing dead foxes.

Many of the images showed injured dogs and dead foxes.
One horrific image showed a terrier latched onto a bleeding badger

The SSPCA identified them as ‘trophy’ photographs showing a group of males engaging in the organised fighting and killing of wild animals over an extended period. Davies was easily identifiable in many of the images.

Inspectors from the SSPCA and officers from Police Scotland went to Davies’ home in Brechin with a warrant on the morning of October 8, 2019. Police found a Benelli shotgun propped against a wall near the front door, two rifles were also found, a Tikka .243 rifle on the sofa and a CZ rifle in the hall cupboard next to the open gun cabinet.

An assortment of ammunition, including 23 bullets in a pot on the floor, five in a carrier bag behind the front door and one on top of a bed were seized by police.

Davies was pictured alongside others posing after digging into fox dens or badger setts.

Eleven dogs were found within kennels on the property. Five Patterdale Terrier dogs had obvious signs of injury.

Two of the terriers, Lola and Tuck, had fresh injuries. Lola’s were to her mouth and lower jaw and Tuck had part of his lower face missing and fresh injuries which produced an obvious smell when near the dog. There were also healing wounds to his forelegs.

All the dogs were taken to Scottish SPCA facilities for examination and treatment.

Inspectors found equipment on the property linked to illegal animal fighting including, locator collars, medication, needles and syringes and a staple gun used to staple up injuries.

Badger DNA was found on a red locator collar following forensic examination.

Photobooks were recovered from the property like the print order placed by Davies.

The dogs had been used repeatedly for fighting, resulting in serious disfigurement

Davies was interviewed under caution and admitted that the dogs had not received veterinary treatment in the time that he had owned them. He denied using the dogs to fight or kill foxes or badgers and claimed they had sustained injury from legal ratting and foxing.

Davies agreed to sign all the terrier dogs over to the Scottish SPCA for rehoming.

The injured dogs were examined by specialist vets. Their expert opinion was that the dogs had been kept for the purposes of animal fighting and their injuries were sustained from face-to-face combat with badgers or foxes.

Another dog is left disfigured after being trained to fight badgers and foxes for the entertainment of her sick owner

Davies’ phone was seized during the search and images of him engaged in digging activities and the dogs with fresh wounds were found. There were also numerous conversations with associates referencing digging activities and sharing photographs showing dogs pulling badgers out of setts.

A number of voice messages with associates were also found where they discussed digging with the dogs. In one message, Davies’ asks an individual about the size of photographs to print to make a digging album. Davies states, “And if I do get the knock for it at least everything’s all in the one place for them to find”.

GPS location data from Davies’ phone also placed him in two rural locations on 21 September 2019 where he was found to have had a conversation with the same associate about meeting to bait and later that night his associate sent an image of Davies standing in a large hole holding one of the terrier dogs.

Speaking after the sentencing, Karon Rollo, Head of the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit of COPFS said: “Animal fighting is a cruel illegal activity which causes terrible and unnecessary suffering to animals.

“The evidence clearly shows the scope of the involvement Rhys Davies had with an organised group that took pleasure in killing wild animals in such a wicked and inhumane manner.

“I welcome the sentence and the granting of the order preventing him from keeping animals for 15 years. I would like to thank Police Scotland and the Scottish SPCA for their part in investigating and gathering evidence of these offences.

“Hopefully this prosecution and the sentence will serve as a message to others who would cause such suffering that there are consequences and that they will be held to account for their actions and could also lose their liberty.

“COPFS will continue to work to ensure those who participate in these barbaric practices are prosecuted and would encourage anyone who may have information on animal fighting to contact Police Scotland or the Scottish SPCA.”

Sentencing | eight months in prison; £1,800 fine for firearms offences. Banned from owning or keeping animals for 15 years.

Raptor Persecution (blog)
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Additional Information

*The Millden Estate is one of a number of shooting estates in the Angus Glens. According to the insightful blog Raptor Persecution UK, the estate is “long- known amongst conservationists as a raptor persecution hotspot” where in 2009 a poisoned golden eagle named Alma was found, with a golden buzzard meeting a similar fate in the same year.

Another blogger, former police officer Alan Stewart aka the Wildlife Detective, described a “catalogue of criminality” taking place on the estate, with incidents including a working collie being poisoned in 2006. He continues:

Around the same time the eggs of a nesting hen harrier disappeared and two fresh shotgun cartridge cases were found near the nest. Despite DNA tests on the cartridge cases and the shotguns of the keepers being taken for comparison with the mark on the cartridge cases made by the firing pin no charges could be brought.

… in 2009 a dead otter was found in a fox snare.

In 2010 an egg tray and nitrile gloves, all with traces of pesticide, were recovered buried on the estate. It is likely that eggs baited with pesticide had been set out.

In 2011 a buzzard was seen being shot. The person doing the shooting drove off in a Land Rover. Neither the vehicle nor the person shooting could be identified. Despite a search on a rocky hill face, we were unable to recover the dead buzzard.

In 2012 … a satellite-tagged golden eagle probably caught in a spring trap, mysteriously moved overnight from Millden Estate and was found dumped, still alive and with two broken legs, on Deeside.

No one has ever been prosecuted for any of these alleged offences and Millden Estate has denied any responsibility.

On 1 November 2022 the Daily Record published an article revealing Rhys Davies’ links to other convicted wildlife persecutors Anthony Holloway (who’s also involved in dog fighting) and Liam Taylor.

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animal fighting / baiting, badger baiting, bird trapping, Birds, birds of prey / raptor persecution, foxes, hedgehogs, Multiple Species, Organised Animal Crime, Other Mammals, Serial Animal Abusers, shooting estates, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports, Worst of the Worst

Duns, Scottish Borders: Alan Wilson

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CONVICTED (2019) | gamekeeper Alan P Wilson, born c. 1958, of Henlaw Cottage, Longformacus, Duns TD11 3NT – killed dozens of wildlife on Longformacus Estate

Gamekeeper Alan Wilson from Duns in the Scottish Borders killed dozens of wildlife including protected species
Gamekeeper Alan Wilson from Duns in the Scottish Borders kept a kill list and dumped 1000 animals into a stink pit designed to attract birds of prey and other animals, which Wilson is suspected of shooting.

Wilson admitted nine charges including killing goshawks, buzzards, badgers and an otter.

The offences were committed on the Longformacus Estate in the Borders between March 2016 and June 2017.

Gamekeeper Alan Wilson from Duns in the Scottish Borders killed dozens of wildlife including protected species
One source said that Alan Wilson was hellbent on killing anything that moved

The court ruled Wilson was responsible for the deaths of numerous wildlife, including protected species. Investigators found animal corpses including otters, badgers, foxes, birds of prey and more when they searched Henlaw Wood in 2017.

A captive eagle owl which the Scottish SPCA suspects was being used as a live lure on birds of prey who were subsequently shot and killed was also discovered at Wilson’s residence. In 2018, Wilson was fined £400 and banned from keeping birds of prey for ten years for failing to ensure the welfare of the eagle owl.

After an investigation which involved experts from the Scottish SPCA’s special investigation unit (SIU), RSPB and Police Scotland, Wilson was found to have used techniques including illegally set snares and unlawful items such as banned pesticides and gin traps to trap and kill wildlife.

A land inspection also found ‘stink pits’, where dead animal carcasses are left to attract other wildlife. These ‘stink pits’ were surrounded by illegally set snares. Animal remains, including mammal skulls, were recovered.

investigators believe Wilson slaughtered thousands more animals.

One source claimed he was hell-bent on killing “everything that moved” except game birds on the estate that were being bred to be shot by wealthy clients.

One kill list found in Wilson’s home catalogued 1,071 dead animals – including cats, foxes, hedgehogs and stoats.

Gamekeeper Alan Wilson from Duns in the Scottish Borders killed dozens of wildlife including protected species

Sheriff Peter Paterson said the offences merited a jail term but he felt he was unable to impose one due to guidelines against short-term sentences.

“The sentencing options open to me at the moment do not reflect society’s views,” he added.

The court was told Wilson had pledged to no longer work as a gamekeeper and was now employed cutting trees.

Police welcomed the sentencing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court at the end of what they called a “complex inquiry” which had been a “large-scale” investigation.

“The illegal killing of birds of prey and protected species cannot, and will not, be tolerated, nor will the inhumane use of illegal traps and pesticides,” said Det Con Andy Loughlin.

An undercover Scottish SPCA investigator described it as a “despicable case of serious and systematic crimes to indiscriminately remove wildlife from an estate”.

“The sheer volume of dead wildlife discovered is truly shocking,” the investigator added.

“We will never know the total number of animals which perished due to Mr Wilson, though had it not been for the robust intervention of Police Scotland, the Scottish SPCA and our other partner agencies, many more would have suffered and perished.”

Sara Shaw, head of the Crown Office’s wildlife and environmental crime unit, said Wilson’s actions amounted to a “campaign of deliberate criminality”.

Duncan Orr-Ewing of RSPB Scotland called it an “absolutely appalling incident involving the illegal killing of a range of protected wildlife.”

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture wildlife forensic scientist Dr Lucy Webster said the investigation had been an “excellent example” of partnership working to “bring a prolific wildlife criminal to justice”.

Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports, described it as “one of the worst wildlife crime incidents in recent years”.

A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said Wilson’s actions were “unacceptable” and “entirely out of step” with conduct it expected from its members.

He said Wilson’s SGA membership would be terminated immediately.

Sentencing: 225 hours of unpaid work; restriction of liberty order.

BBC News
Daily Record

animal fighting / baiting, badger baiting, Dogs, hunting with dogs, Organised Animal Crime, shooting estates, Snaring and Trapping, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Ilkley, West Yorkshire: Austin Hawke

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CONVICTED (2019) | gamekeeper Austin Hawke, born 23 August 1967, of The Bungalow, Ling Park, Ilkley LS29 0EJ – killed a badger in a trap

Badger killer Austin Hawke, a gamekeeper from Ilkley, Yorkshire, UK
A badger died a cruel and horrible neglect as a result of gamekeeper Austin Hawke’s cavalier attitude towards wildlife management

The badger had been lured to a ‘stink pit’ at High Denton Farm, near Ilkley, where dead and decaying animals are legitimately placed in a pile to lure vermin so they can be destroyed.

Austin Hawke – a head keeper of the Denton Park Estate, had denied failing to inspect a snare every day it remained in position. The offence was contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Hawke had set eight wire snares at four entrances to a 25 metre by 25 metre fenced off area of moorland before Easter 2018.

The aim was to lure foxes, the target species which Hawke had a licence from Defra to destroy, to the pit.

The square pit had four entrance holes cut into the fencing mesh with the snares placed nearby.

The pit was around 100 metres away from a footpath.

However, Hawke claimed the snares had been ‘deactivated’ on Good Friday (March 30, 2018) because he was conscious there could be an increase in visitors and walkers to the moorland over the Easter break.

The RSPCA is against the use of snares because they trap animals indiscriminately and cause tremendous suffering. Not that this would faze a gamekeeper like Austin Hawke

He said, generally, deactivating snares involved loosening the wire so the loop part, which the animals are snared by, is made smaller and wrapped around a ‘tealer’, a semi-rigid wire which holds the loop in the air at the correct height, and laying it down in undergrowth nearby.

On this occasion he admitted the snares had been left in situ but said the loops had been loosened and made so small as to prevent hares or badgers getting tangled in them.

He said the idea was to re-set them after a few weeks.

Prosecuting Rob Yates said the badger had been found by walker and bird watcher Andrew Jowett on May 28 last year.

Badger killer Austin Hawke, a gamekeeper from Ilkley, Yorkshire, UK

The police were called to the site. Sergeant Stuart Grainger, of North Yorkshire Police, said he attended the site, one kilometre north of High Denton Farm, on May 29. The dead badger was in one of the snares which was attached to a wooden stake in the ground and “looked as if it had been dead for several days”.

He said it was in such an advanced state of decay that its innards fell away when it was raised from the ground. He said the snare had cut into the badger’s flesh.

Hawke acknowledged legislation required gamekeepers to check snares at least once every 24 hours but he argued that as he had deactivated them there was no reason to check them.

He said he had been a gamekeeper for 35 years.

He said when in use, the traps and snares are checked daily and any non-target species trapped in them, such as hares and badgers, are released.

“We don’t want to cause unnecessary suffering,” Hawke said, stating he regarded the capture of a non-target species as a ‘tragedy’.

He said he had made an inspection of the area prior to setting the snares and he had seen no evidence of badgers being present, which can be seen through their droppings or hair on fences.

Defending, Amber Walker said her client had an exemplary record as a game keeper and was skilled in his job and honest.

“The snares were not left in such a state they posed a threat to non-target species. Mr Hawke has said if he had not been sure of this he would have gone back to check,” she said.

She also claimed there was a possibility that animal rights activists could have been responsible in order to have the blame laid at the feet of the game keeper.

“Removing a head keeper (through conviction) would be quite a scalp (by some activists) even if it meant the death of a badger,” she said.

Mr Yates claimed it was unlikely that animal rights people who campaigned against animal cruelty and disapproved of capturing animals would set snares.

Instead, he said Hawke had left the snares in position and was under a legal obligation to check them every 24 hours.

Magistrates found Hawke guilty of the charge, but stated it was an ‘isolated act of negligence, rather than intent’.

Sergeant Kev Kelly, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Task Force, said: “This case was reported following a member of the public who was aware of our proactive work under Operation Owl.

“From the evidence collected, it was apparent that the badger had suffered before it had eventually died after being caught in the snare. Therefore this case was fully investigated to ensure other animals didn’t undergo the same fate.

“If the defendant had been using breakaway snares it is less likely that he would have killed the badger.

“I am disappointed as we have been doing some really good partnership working with local Nidderdale keepers who want to show the public good practice and accountability.

“Hawke’s conviction will no doubt have an impact on how his profession is viewed. I think he has done his wider colleagues a disservice.”

Geoff Edmond, RSPCA National Wildlife Coordinator, said: “The RSPCA continues to work closely with the North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Task Force and this result highlights the strength of partnership working under Operation Owl.

“This badger will have suffered a horrific and prolonged death having been snared in this way.

“The RSPCA is against the use of snares because they are indiscriminate in what they catch and they cause tremendous suffering. But while they remain legal we hope we can work together with the Police and National Gamekeepers’ Organisation to raise awareness of the good practice guide so as to improve accountability.”

Sentencing: 12-month conditional discharge. Costs and charges totalling £645.

Telegraph and Argus

Birds, poaching, shooting estates, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Lytchett Matravers / Wareham / Ferndown, Dorset: Mark Mabey, Lewis Longstaffe and Edward Turner

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CONVICTED (2017) | vicious poaching gang Mark Amos Mabey, born c. 1964, of Wareham Road, Lytchett Matravers, Poole BH16, Lewis Todd Longstaffe, born 26 September 1994, of 128 Sandy Lane, Upton, Poole BH16 5LY, and Edward Turner, born c. 1965, of Lockyers Drive, Ferndown BH22 – found with 100 dead or injured pheasants in their car.

L-R Mark Mabey, Lewis Longstaffe, Edward Turnere

The court heard that at around 12.35am on Wednesday January 6, 2016, a land worker was alerted by an acquaintance to possible poaching activity taking place on the private land he manages to the north of Wimborne and alerted police.

The man located the offenders inside a Mitsubishi 4×4. The Mitsubishi reversed at speed toward the victim’s vehicle and crashed into it. The offenders also fired a steel shot at the man and his car, the court was told.

The man managed to reverse away from the offenders and lost sight of them.

The police helicopter tracked the men to Tarrant Monkton where they were arrested.

The Mitsubishi was recovered and examined. The boot contained more than 100 pheasants that were either dead, or alive but maimed.

Longstaffe, a former gamekeeper who is well-known to hunt saboteurs, has a previous conviction for poaching.

Mark Mabey was found guilty of affray. He also pleaded guilty to night poaching. He was handed a 10-month prison sentence suspended for two years, a 20-day rehabilitation order, 80 hours of unpaid work and a one-year exclusion from the estate where he committed the offences.

Lewis Longstaffe, a previous offender, and Edward Turner pleaded guilty night poaching. Longstaffe was fined £337 and ordered to pay £150 costs. Turner received a £202 fine and £150 costs. The pair were also handed a two-year restraining order that prevents them from contacting the victim or entering their land.

Bournemouth Echo

Update | October 2023

On Monday 23 October 2023, Mark Mabey was sentenced to five months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and banned from having anything to do with dogs until October 2030. He was also ordered to carry out unpaid work and subjected to a tagging order.

He was prosecuted alongside various relatives/associates (charges against others possibly dropped) after police seized 11 dogs from his home after they were deemed by a vet to be suffering.

Planet Radio