No ban on Ness guga hunt 26/8/10
The annual guga hunt will continue despite opposition from the SSPCA.
The Scottish Government has rejected demands from the animal welfare body to ban the age old tradition.
The ten men from Ness, Lewis, who are currently on this year’s guga expedition to Sula Sgeir will hold onto their special licence to harvest 2000 birds says the government.
But the SSPCA insists the activity is a barbaric practice.
Mike Flynn of the body said: "We would expect other animal welfare and conservation organisations to be supportive of a move to bring to an end a barbaric and inhumane practice which causes unnecessary suffering to thousands of young gannets every year.
"Tradition is simply not an acceptable reason for maintaining such a practice.
"We accept that maybe 150 to 200 years ago the guga formed part of the staple diet of the islanders, but that is certainly no longer the case today, yet they are still using the same methods that were used all those years ago.
"It may be argued that the cull is sustainable or it simply doesn't matter because the gannet is not an endangered species, but these arguments are irrelevant when suffering is being caused.
"The killing of any animal must be carried out in the most humane manner possible and this practice has no place in modern society.”
A Scottish government spokesman said: "We are satisfied that there is no conservation risk to the local gannet population posed by this traditional hunt.
"We are also satisfied that, provided it is done effectively and competently, the method used to dispatch the birds is not inhumane."