Shooting is part of professional pest control. Foxes, rabbits, certain birds and now badgers (as part of the cull) are all dealt with in this way. But this is also one of the most controversial methods of pest control in the eyes of the general public.
These two incidents, widely reported in the press, will have done little to improve the image of professional pest controllers’ activities.
The most recent case involves a pet dog killed, accidentally, by pest controllers out on a golf course controlling rabbits. John Kirby, the owner of the four-year-old whippet called Wilma, reported that his dog was killed yards from his garden, on the neighbouring golf course at Meon Valley, a Marriott Hotel and Country Club, near Winchester, Hampshire.
The incident sparked a police investigation and a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said officers had spoken to a man in connection with the incident but made no arrests.
Meanwhile, the hotel has confirmed the incident and has suspended pest control activities at all of its UK hotels whilst the investigation continues.
You can read the full story, as reported in the Daily Telegraph by clicking here and in the Daily Mail here.
Second recent incident
This is the second recent event concerning shooting, as readers of our most recent Pest+ issue 29 will have already read how five pest controllers from Biggin Hill, Kent were confronted by a police armed response unit dropped in by helicopter whilst out on a pest control mission.
Read the report here.