16.10.25
Warning: This blog contains potentially upsetting imagery.
Across the UK, a shocking trend continues unabated. Innocent animals – birds, from swans to geese, and even domestic pets – are being injured or killed by catapults and other weapons, often at the hands of teenagers or children.
These deliberate acts of cruelty show just how easy it is for young people to buy and misuse catapults and compound bows – devices capable of firing steel ball bearings, and, for the bows, carbon fibre arrows with dangerous and deadly force. Despite the harm they cause, catapults and compound bows are entirely unregulated, with no minimum age for purchase. It is time to change that.
What we are doing
We are calling on the government to take urgent action and make it illegal to sell catapults to anyone under eighteen. This simple, practical step will help protect wildlife, domestic pets, and people from preventable harm by restricting access to potentially dangerous weapons.
Because right now, our wildlife and animals are not protected by strong enough laws. And without effective legislation, wildlife and animal crime will continue.
We believe our nation’s wildlife deserves better.
We need your help
Ask the policing minister, Sarah Jones MP, who plays a key role in shaping and implementing laws related to public safety, to support legislation to restrict catapult sales to over-18s.
Email the policing minister
The Labour Government declared itself as the party of animal welfare (*1). Now is the time to hold them to that declaration. Together, we can end catapult cruelty and give wildlife the protection it desperately needs to survive and thrive.
YOU need to have your say. The policing minister represents YOU and YOUR voice in the UK Parliament. Now’s the time to ask them to implement change and make a stand for British wildlife.
Please email the policing minister, Sarah Jones MP today!
More to come
We are also working on getting retailers to introduce an age restriction of eighteen years and over with credible verification methods. If they do not cease the sale of catapults and compound bows, they should lead by example to protect wildlife, pets, and the public from preventable harm.
Naturewatch Foundation has contacted retailers on multiple occasions by email and written letter to raise these serious concerns. As a direct result, we are now in discussions with a major retailer and making positive changes on some sales platforms. We will continue to press retailers and will report back to supporters when we have more information.
We are calling on UK retailers to:
- Introduce voluntary age restrictions, ensuring that no catapults or compound bows are sold to anyone under 18.
- Stop categorising catapults and compound bows as toys or sports goods and recognise the danger they present when misused.
- Lead by example to protect wildlife, pets, and the public from preventable harm.
These are simple, responsible actions that could prevent countless animals from suffering and help protect communities from further harm. If not used for their intended purpose, these are classified by UK legislation as offensive weapons.
It’s time for UK retailers to do the right thing.
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For more information on our wildlife crime campaign check out our website.
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