Wildlife detective lays down the law

THERE’S less regard in Ireland for laws protecting wildlife than there is in Britain, a man who has been described as the ‘foremost wildlife detective in these islands’, suggests.

Alan Stewart, a retired police inspector who worked in Scotland, and who once specialised in poaching cases, believes the difference here is there are very strong lobby groups of which politicians and civil servants are wary, if not afraid.

Given the largely rural nature of the country until fairly recent times, Irish people were traditionally close to nature and, generally speaking, respected and loved animals.

However, there continues to be exceptions to that, frequently highlighted by appalling cases of cruelty.

How often do we see instances of dogs with ears cut off, badger-baiting and even poisoning of a variety of wildlife, including protected birds of prey?

Mr Stewart, an outspoken personality with long experience of case studies all over Britain and Ireland, has interesting reflections on what’s happening here. He talks about the continued use of poisoned meat bait which has killed eagles and kites in Kerry, Wicklow and Donegal. Such incidents may force people in Norway and Wales, who donate the birds for reintroduction programmes in Ireland, to stop doing so, he warns.

“The farming lobby is very strong in Ireland and any mention of prohibiting the laying of poison would be vehemently opposed by them,” he says.

Poisoned baits, including alpha-chloralose, are still legal here for vermin control. Alpha-chloralose is one of the biggest threats to the success of the golden eagle, white-tailed eagle and red kite reintroduction programmes, as well as to native birds of prey, he maintains. Environment Minister John Gormley has pledged to tighten up laws on the use of poisoned bait and action is awaited from him.

In his latest book, The Thin Green Line – wildlife crime investigation in Britain and Ireland – Mr Stewart instances cases of cruelty to a variety of animals in Ireland, providing a valuable eye-opener to what’s going.

He appears surprised to learn most wildlife crime in Ireland is not investigated by the gardaí, but by conservation rangers employed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

However, garda powers are broadly similar to those held by police in Britain and a garda, or another authorised person, may enter land where there’s a suspicion an offence is being committed under the Wildlife Act.

Over the years, we’ve seen many cases of cruelty, especially to cattle, dogs, horses and sheep, being prosecuted in the courts, usually with garda witnesses known to have gone above and beyond the call of duty in investigations.

Mr Stewart highlights the plight of greyhounds, cast aside, either because they are not winning races, or have finished their racing careers. He believes some Irish greyhound owners are just as bad as some of their British counterparts.

“Because of the callous and ruthless nature of some of the people involved, greyhound racing results in unbelievable cruelty to many dogs and, of course, a great deal of work for the gardaí and the ISPCA,’ he says. ‘In many cases, the dogs are bred for one purpose only and once that purpose is fulfilled they are disposable.’ Bats, which are harmless creatures, were the victims of an unusual wildlife crime in Co Galway, in June 2007.

A bat roost in a bridge that was in danger of collapse became public knowledge through newspaper publicity.

A week later, a council engineer arrived at the scene to find someone had placed a number of tyres under each arch and set them on fire, suffocating bats which retreated into crevices.

Several dead bats, and others which were barely alive, were found at the scene. Some of them had their wings so badly burned they had to be put down. Though there were major suspicions, the perpetrator or perpetrators were never caught.

Fox hunting is also dealt with by Mr Stewart. Banned in Britain in its traditional form, where the intent is for the hounds to catch and kill the fox, it is still legal in the Republic, a situation that attracts hunts from Britain.

While he has no issue with fox hunting as it is carried out in Scotland, where the intention is sometimes part of pest control, he says what makes the sport worse is when the unfortunate fox being hunted goes to ground and is dug up.

This happened during a hunt, in 2008, with two Irish foxhound packs. Men dug foxes out of their underground refuge with spades and irons bars and then killed them in direct violation of what might be described as ‘good sport’.

You’d imagine foxes that had outsmarted the hounds would, sportingly, be given credit for that and allowed rest in subterranean safety – until the next chase.