Petition launched to protect wildlife from catapults needs your support

A petition, demanding a change of law to protect wildlife from catapult attacks, needs your signature. Launched by Christopher Smith of Greenwich Wildlife Network, the petition calls for new legislation, making it an offence to carry a catapult in public without a licence.

The petition has gained more than 12,000 signatures in less than a week, and with your help it can reach the 100,000 signatures desperately needed.

It reads:

“Catapults are increasingly linked to assaults, criminal damage, and rising wildlife attacks. Making public possession an absolute offence like air rifles with age checks, and a licensing scheme for legitimate uses like angling, would give police stronger powers.”

Catapults maim and kill wildlife

Greenwich Wildlife Network founder, Rae Gellel, wrote:

“Watching the [petition] numbers climb has been so heartening and shows just how many people care about ending this senseless cruelty. What’s not heartening, however, are the daily reports we’re still receiving of animals being maimed and killed for entertainment - multiple parakeets killed in Danson Park, and a squirrel killed this evening in Orpington. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is constant. The reports never stop. The same culprits, over and over.”

Indeed, there has been a horrifying rise in catapult attacks on animals. Protect the Wild previously reported:

“According to the RSPCA, Kent has become a hotspot for the use of catapults over the past years. The county has had the second-highest number of incidents after London. Across the UK, the organisation reported that 896 incidents of similar attacks on animals with catapults, airguns and crossbows had been reported to them between 2020 and 2023.”

Meanwhile, a recent BBC investigation reported on young people under 18 “inflicting wildlife, animals and people with devastating injuries [with catapults].” The BBC stated:

“Catapult crimes are not included in official statistics, so BBC Verify sent Freedom of Information requests to police forces in England and Wales, asking for crime records which mentioned the words “catapult” or “slingshot”.

According to responses from 37 out of 43 forces, about 7,200 crime records from the five years to the end of 2024 mentioned the words.”

With your help, we can make catapults illegal

Although similar previous petitions have garnered much support from the public, they haven’t received enough signatures to force a debate in parliament. Opposing a previous petition, the government stated:

“catapults are also routinely used by members of the public enjoying legitimate pastimes, in particular for anglers when propelling fishing bait.”

That’s why Greenwich Wildlife Network is calling for the licensing of catapult usage in this latest petition. After all, anglers already need a rod fishing licence in order to fish.

Although current legislation can, in theory, prosecute those who cause kill or injure an animal with a catapult, in practice it isn’t enough to secure enough convictions. Under current legislation, individuals can defend themselves against charges of possessing a weapon by proving they had ‘reasonable excuse’ or ‘lawful authority’ to possess it.

The government previously stated:

“under provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, the police have broad powers to deal with offences where unnecessary suffering and injury is inflicted on wildlife, including cases involving the misuse of catapults.”

Despite this, the murders continue and the headlines keep appearing on our screens. Children using catapults to kill and torture animals before sharing ‘sick’ images on WhatsApp is one such gruesome news piece.

Of course, we have seen time and time again that this Labour government won’t act for wildlife unless it is forced to. That’s why we all need to sign this petition, get it to 100,000, and force politicians to debate this in parliament.

Sign the petition here!

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