Children kill wildlife with slingshots

The animals being targeted are diverse: swans, deer, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, pigeons, Canada geese, squirrels and ducks.

The Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton, England, is currently caring for around 20 birds with slingshot injuries. Volunteer Danni Rogers describes the wounds as "life-changing and fatal": "Fractures to the facial area, exploding eyes, ruptured windpipes." X-rays show steel ball bearings lodged deep in the animals' tissue.

In one of the videos, a roe deer lies on the ground, severely injured by a head shot, while the child who fired continues to kick the animal. In another video, a teenager films a Canada goose drowning after being shot: "One up for the new catapult big Canadian goose, dead as a dodo."

No ban, free sale: The legal loophole

Slingshots are legally purchasable in Great Britain, including by minors, on Amazon and eBay among other platforms. Carrying them in public is not prohibited. While the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protect wildlife from deliberate suffering, slingshots are not explicitly listed on any banned weapons lists. This makes prosecution complex and rare, as the RSPCA publicly confirms.

RSPCA wildlife expert Geoff Edmond calls the slingshot attacks an "emerging trend": "We are seeing more and more injured animals that have been shot with slingshots." Police in London and Essex are also registering rising case numbers.

Parliamentary petition demands consequences

A currently running petition in the British Parliament with almost 40,000 signatures demands that carrying a slingshot in public without good reason be classified as an absolute criminal offense, analogous to air rifles. As a compromise, the initiators propose a licensing system for legitimate uses such as fishing.

Conservative MP Henry Smith, Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, supports the petition: Parliament must act "urgently" and ensure there is a clear criminal penalty for those "who use slingshots as weapons to injure and cause suffering to animals."

The government (Home Office) has so far refused to introduce an absolute ban, but wants to "actively examine" what more can be done.

What drives this violence?

Animal welfare organizations and child psychologists emphasize: The willingness to view animals as targets for "fun" is not an isolated phenomenon. It reflects a culture where killing wildlife is staged as sporting trophies, amplified by social media that creates visibility and reward through likes. Those who torture animals show not only a disturbed relationship to wildlife, but to compassion and responsibility in general.

The debate in Great Britain should also find hearing on the continent. Similar protection gaps exist in Switzerland: slingshots are legal, proving animal cruelty remains difficult, and the number of unreported cases is likely considerable. Those who want to learn more about the protection of wildlife in Europe will find ongoing current reports at wildbeimwild.com.