# Chris Rhea (the rhea) shot dead...



## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

by a gamekeeper. How sad, I feared some trigger happy moron would finish him off.

Hertfordshire runaway rhea Chris killed by gamekeeper - Mirror Online

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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

Poor thing ...


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

If they managed to shoot it why couldn't they dart it with anaesthetic and then return it to the owner where it must have been living OK before it managed to escape.


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

well thats upset and annoyed me 

the comment that annoyed me the most though "What's the life of a bird against the life of a person or family?"
why are we the more important species? because we are stupid and ignorant?


i imagine the 'traffic hazard' wasn't the main reason he shot it though, and the fact he his hiding behind that reasoning has angered me further still! (because surely if he was that much of a hazard the golf club owner would have called for it to be shot much sooner)

and poor owner


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Sled dog hotel said:


> If they managed to shoot it why couldn't they dart it with anaesthetic and then return it to the owner where it must have been living OK before it managed to escape.


Some people are only happy when they're killing animals, its sickening.

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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

The shooter seems to be presenting his act as a public service. Though he seems pretty keen to pack it off to the local butchers to be turned into gourmet sausages. Exotic meat earns a fair penny one suspects.

I notice the Mail is describing the bird as "rampaging" through the countryside... Did I miss something?

In reality - according to the owner - she is, or was, a shy bird who foraged on weeds and posed no threat to anyone....


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

kodakkuki said:


> well thats upset and annoyed me
> 
> the comment that annoyed me the most though "What's the life of a bird against the life of a person or family?"
> why are we the more important species? because we are stupid and ignorant?
> ...


Yes, me too! Deer are a traffic hazard, should we shoot every deer in the uk just incase? The gamekeeper is just using this lame excuse to try to justify his unjustifiable actions.

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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

noushka05 said:


> Some people are only happy when they're killing animals, its sickening.
> 
> .


Sadly very true, I hope he chokes on his gourmet sausages they were going to make.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Knightofalbion said:


> The shooter seems to be presenting his act as a public service. Though he seems pretty keen to pack it off to the local butchers to be turned into gourmet sausages. Exotic meat earns a fair penny one suspects.
> 
> I notice the Mail is describing the bird as "rampaging" through the countryside... Did I miss something?
> 
> In reality - according to the owner - she is, or was, a shy bird who foraged on weeds and posed no threat to anyone....


If I were the owner I would be demanding the return of the poor animals body, he should not be allowed to profit from his cruelty!

Typical animal hating , sensationalist Daily mail! Does anyone with an ounce of decency work for this paper?

That poor bird, only someone devoid of empathy could pull the trigger on her.

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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

So sad.

Yet another 'man' with a gun, a huge ego and a black heart.


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

Sled dog hotel said:


> If they managed to shoot it why couldn't they dart it with anaesthetic and then return it to the owner where it must have been living OK before it managed to escape.


That's a very good point.

If golfers were seeing it on a regular basis its whereabouts were not unbeknown so it could have been recaptured in this way.


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## crazy curtains (Jul 9, 2011)

Poor bird and her owner 
All these people going round killing anything and everything that moves make me sick.

Every day when out with the dog i hear shots, god knows what they are killing but they obviously dont care that those birds/animals could have young.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Knightofalbion said:


> The shooter seems to be presenting his act as a public service. Though he seems pretty keen to pack it off to the local butchers to be turned into gourmet sausages. Exotic meat earns a fair penny one suspects.
> 
> I notice the Mail is describing the bird as "rampaging" through the countryside... Did I miss something?
> 
> In reality - according to the owner - she is, or was, a shy bird who foraged on weeds and posed no threat to anyone....


Any large creature who is in fear could change character and be a danger



crazy curtains said:


> Poor bird and her owner
> All these people going round killing anything and everything that moves make me sick.
> 
> Every day when out with the dog i hear shots, god knows what they are killing but they obviously dont care that those birds/animals could have young.


They could be clay pigeons 

If it is creatures at this time of year they should have their guns removed, though it's not illegal to shoot some at this time of year 

Can't see why the Rhea couldn't be captured rather than shot. Need more than a little thought to do that though!!

Mmm, also don't think Rhea comes under the general license, so he may have been breaking the law unless instructed by the police or government body


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/wml-gl06_tcm6-24151.pdf


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

rona said:


> Any large creature who is in fear could change character and be a danger


Like a cow you mean.

*Could* is not the same as *is.*

The fellows first priority was cashing in by carting it off to be minced up for gourmet sausages...
The bird was at large but not 'wild' as it had an owner, it was not therefore his to take.


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

" 'Rita', a six year-old bird native to South America, fled the pen at her owner's home, where she lived with three younger rheas, after being spooked by huntsmen."


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

Rheas have a "growing popularity as pets" ... 

Always the danger with exotic pets, that they escape and turn native.

I don't know about you but I think rheas belong in South America, in the wild...


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Knightofalbion said:


> " 'Rita', a six year-old bird native to South America, fled the pen at her owner's home, where she lived with three younger rheas, after being spooked by huntsmen."


I didn't know this Gamekeepers & huntsmen are the scourge in our countryside! They have zero respect for life! -
Rita is just another of their MANY innocent victims!



[QUOTE said:


> Knightofalbion;1063679794]Rheas have a "growing popularity as pets" ...
> 
> Always the danger with exotic pets, that they escape and turn native.
> 
> I don't know about you but I think rheas belong in South America, in the wild...


[/QUOTE]

Yes, so do I.

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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Knightofalbion said:


> Like a cow you mean.
> 
> *Could* is not the same as *is.*
> 
> ...


Well yes like a cow 
If a cow got separated from it's herd it could be a very dangerous animal!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-damaging-cars-gardens-injuring-officer.html

The priority in this story was not that the meat was going to be used but that it was meat and no longer a living breathing creature surely?
It's beginning to seem as if the police may have asked him to deal with it


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

rona said:


> Well yes like a cow
> If a cow got separated from it's herd it could be a very dangerous animal!!
> Cow SHOT DEAD by police marksman after herd go on the run in Bristol | Mail Online
> 
> ...


The point I was making is that it wouldn't be an excuse to shoot a cow because it might run amok. If it was running amok, there'd be an excuse for it. But if its just peacefully grazing ...
Like SDH said, could it not have been darted instead and returned to its owner.

According to local reports Hertfordshire police didn't know about it and are 'investigating'.

Morally right or wrong, it was someone's pet. If the owner - who was said to be "angry" her bird was shot - gave permission (to be minced for gourmet sausages), okay, that's her prerogative, but the whole thing smacks of a 'trophy kill' to me.

On further investigation, you can buy a rhea chick for as little as £65... Some people are taking them for pets, as I mentioned, and some farmers are trying to develop a UK market for rhea meat. (Farmed here that is.) 
So expect the same thing to happen again.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Of course. Couldn't possibly be doing a public service now could he. Won't make for a good story now would it


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## Guest (May 11, 2014)

Oh how horribly sad!  I didnt even know there was a rhea running loose in the UK, and now that the poor thing has been shot.... Surely they could have trapped or tranquilized him?


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Knightofalbion said:


> The point I was making is that it wouldn't be an excuse to shoot a cow because it might run amok. If it was running amok, there'd be an excuse for it. But if its just peacefully grazing ...
> Like SDH said, could it not have been darted instead and returned to its owner.
> 
> According to local reports Hertfordshire police didn't know about it and are 'investigating'.
> ...


Ostrich farming for meat I believe is quite popular, they can run at about 40 miles an hour too, so I should imagine they can pose as much of a danger or hazard as the Rhea.

There must be Rheas in zoos and ostritch on farms must need medical attention too from time to time, so there must have surely been a way, of dealing with the problem like darting or sedating it and getting it returned as I mentioned before.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

rona said:


> Of course. Couldn't possibly be doing a public service now could he. Won't make for a good story now would it


The story isn't sensationalist against the gamekeeper It doesn't need to be for people to feel angry, his real motives are so transparent! I suspect some of those that believe he killed for the good of the public are the many zoophobes we have in this country. Bet they're glad his ilk wiped out most of our mesofauna long ago, 1 rhea & they fear for their safety!... imagine how shot their nerves would be if we still had bear & wolf roaming the land



ouesi said:


> Oh how horribly sad!  I didnt even know there was a rhea running loose in the UK, and now that the poor thing has been shot.... Surely they could have trapped or tranquilized him?


Tranquilizing wouldn't have sated his blood lust Ouesi, plus he wouldn't have got his sausages. This set have no compassion for wild animals, they can kill them without a second thought.


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## Knightofalbion (Jul 3, 2012)

Sled dog hotel said:


> Ostrich farming for meat I believe is quite popular, they can run at about 40 miles an hour too, so I should imagine they can pose as much of a danger or hazard as the Rhea.
> 
> There must be Rheas in zoos and ostritch on farms must need medical attention too from time to time, so there must have surely been a way, of dealing with the problem like darting or sedating it and getting it returned as I mentioned before.


You'd think so wouldn't you. And hardly the need for the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph to go over the top. There was no 'rampaging' ... That sort of rabble rousing rhetoric almost ensures a violent end.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Knightofalbion said:


> You'd think so wouldn't you. And hardly the need for the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph to go over the top. There was no 'rampaging' ... That sort of rabble rousing rhetoric almost ensures a violent end.


Surely not, the press never lie do they


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## Guest (May 11, 2014)

Knightofalbion said:


> You'd think so wouldn't you. And hardly the need for the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph to go over the top. There was no 'rampaging' ... That sort of rabble rousing rhetoric almost ensures a violent end.


I was going to say... did the Rhea even harm anyone? 
Ostrich and Emu farming is gaining popularity here in the US, and theyre not impossible to catch... Nor are they any more dangerous than other large livestock like horses and cattle... Just sad


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Knightofalbion said:


> You'd think so wouldn't you. And hardly the need for the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph to go over the top. There was no 'rampaging' ... That sort of rabble rousing rhetoric almost ensures a violent end.


According to the link Noush posted it had been around the golf course for over a month, that being the case, it had plenty of time to go on a rampage and cause havoc or attack people. Seems that it didn't and still hadn't when it was shot. In fact according to the statements it was said it had never been a nuisance and kept its distance from people playing golf. Doesn't exactly sound that it was a particular major threat does it especially given the time it was there.


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## crazy curtains (Jul 9, 2011)

rona said:


> Any large creature who is in fear could change character and be a danger
> 
> They could be clay pigeons
> 
> ...


Re the clay pigeon bit (sorry dont know how to do the bold thing)
It is a possibility but tbh I doubt the farmer would be-certainly the mallard I enjoyed watching flying over my head and across the rape field the other evening before bang and it dropped out the sky was very real


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

crazy curtains said:


> Re the clay pigeon bit (sorry dont know how to do the bold thing)
> It is a possibility but tbh I doubt the farmer would be-certainly the mallard I enjoyed watching flying over my head and across the rape field the other evening before bang and it dropped out the sky was very real


Well that's illegal and should be reported to the police ASAP
The duck season finished 30th January until later in September

I don't know how you all know people that do stuff like this. In 40 years in farming and shooting I only ever saw one thing shot when it shouldn't have been and the person that made the mistake was devastated.

Did know a couple of brothers that were terrier men for the hunt which weren't very nice and I cut ties with them very quickly. But that it in 40 odd years!!!


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## Zaros (Nov 24, 2009)

kodakkuki said:


> why are we the more important species?





kodakkuki said:


> because we are stupid and ignorant?


And as we all understand it the more vulnerable or 'special' we are the more we need protecting.

Even if it is from ourselves. :sad:


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

rona said:


> Well that's illegal and should be reported to the police ASAP
> The duck season finished 30th January until later in September
> 
> I don't know how you all know people that do stuff like this. In 40 years in farming and shooting I only ever saw one thing shot when it shouldn't have been and the person that made the mistake was devastated.
> ...


But the hunt themselves would never inflict cruelty upon an animal would they? lol

Wildfowling causes immense damage to the environment full stop! Many shooters continually flout the law by using toxic lead shot, polluting the land & poisoning the wildlife. They legally kill threatened species, they are such a powerful lobby they are allowed to get away with murder.

Even the more responsible game bird shooters acting within the law are indirectly supporting animal abuse, as you know gamekeepers use barbaric snares to indiscriminately slaughter our wildlife, so putting aside the act of shooting animals for pleasure & they are still complicit in this brutality.

There are some very good farmers who really do appreciate wildlife and even understand the important role predators play, from my own experience they do appear to be the minority though, most ive come across would shoot just about anything that moves.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

But if these birds live in flocks what sort of life was this poor bird having being on her own all the time?

Maybe there is a reason this bird couldn't be sedated so was shot instead. IMO this was the best option. At least it died instantly which if it had continued to roam may not have been the case.


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