RJ Hamster
Abolish the Guga Hunt activists arrested after 60+ hour…
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Abolish the Guga Hunt activists arrested after 60+ hour rooftop occupation
Three sleepless nights. Two arrests. One clear demand: End the Guga hunt.
MAR 24READ IN APP
At 4am on Friday 20th March, while most of the country slept, two men climbed onto the roof of NatureScot headquarters in Inverness. Perched on the highest ridge above the building’s glass atrium, they locked themselves to a railing, unfurled a banner, and refused to come down.
For more than 60 hours, they held their position.
Police cordoned off the building. Fire crews were called. Officers returned again and again, trying to bring them down.
But they didn’t budge.
Until, just before 5pm on Sunday night, a specialist police team moved in, removing both men from the roof and arresting them on the spot.
Why did they do it?
So why would anyone choose to endure that – chained to a rooftop in the freezing Scottish Highlands, three nights without sleep, exposed, exhausted, with no shelter, no bathroom, no proper food, no comfort?
Because Scotland’s Gannets face something much worse. Every year, 10 men from the Isle of Lewis travel to the remote rocky island of Sula Sgeir to take part in a mass slaughter of Gannet chicks.
The Guga (local name for the chicks) are so young they cannot yet fly when they are snatched from their nests and bludgeoned to death. This is all done in the name of tradition, and the chick’s flesh is eaten as a local delicacy.
This sick and outdated practice is what Jamie and Allan, of Abolish the Guga hunt, were protesting. And their choice of location was no accident – because without NatureScot’s licence, the hunt does not happen. Every year, they sign off on the killing of up to 2000 chicks. They justify this by saying the hunt is allowed in law, and the Gannet population can handle it. But something being legal doesn’t make it right. Killing wildlife for a delicacy is simply not acceptable.
And here’s the thing: The licence is discretionary. They don’t have to give it out. It is a choice.
So just to reiterate: Scotland’s public body for protecting nature is sanctioning the slaughter of native seabirds in the midst of a biodiversity crisis to maintain a cultural tradition. And yet the ones being handcuffed are those who resist the slaughter, not those who carry it out…
This must end
Jamie and Allan are now free, but the Guga hunt continues. This hypocrisy must end. We need every one of you to sign the petitiondemanding NatureScot stop issuing licences for the Guga hunt.
The public are on our side. The facts are on our side. What’s missing is the will to act.
Add your name and help force that change – so gannets are protected as they should be, not licensed to be killed.
LIKECOMMENTRESTACK
