A \u201ccrow and magpie shoot\u201d event that\u2019s been the subject of numerous complaints to the province is legal and can go ahead as planned, Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie told reporters Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The event, scheduled for Saturday, is hosted by the Woodlands & District Wildlife Association, a club in the Interlake. A poster advertising the shoot states teams of two can register for $50, and the event will be followed with a barbeque dinner. The poster also says prizes will be given to the top two teams.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time the association has hosted a crow and magpie shoot, president Darrell Hueging told Global News, but it is the first time the event has received pushback. Hueging says he has received \u201ca lot of hate\u201d in the form of phone calls and social media comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had some conversations with some people that just didn\u2019t have an understanding to what this event was about,\u201d Hueging said. \u201cIt reached\u2026 different crowds and different people, and it\u2019s just kind of blown up from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hueging says the event\u2019s purpose is to control the crow and magpie population for area farmers, while getting community members together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey both are a threat (to) livestock, especially now during the springtime when newborn calves are being born and are the most vulnerable\u2026 pecking at soft tissues, and sometimes, they\u2019re sometimes life-threatening injuries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hueging says only a \u201chandful\u201d of birds will be harvested over the course of the day. He adds it\u2019s not a \u201csport shooting\u201d event, but Brittany Semeniuk with animal law advocacy organization Animal Justice disagrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, it\u2019s a killing contest where participants are encouraged to hunt and kill as many crows and magpies within a specific area as many as they can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a killing contest and nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n