HADDINGTON, Scotland, Nov. 11 A Scottish bird fancier who admitted illegally trapping wild birds has been fined and barred from keeping birds for five years.
Wild birds found in William White's home in Temple were red-listed, meaning that their numbers appear to be dropping sharply, The Scotsman reported. Investigators also found seven recently caught linnets in his car, four of them dead from shock.
White pleaded guilty Friday to inhumane trapping of birds. He was ordered to pay a fine of 750-pounds (more than $1,500).
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals began an undercover investigation after getting a tip about White's hobby. Investigators found lime sticks -- which trapped every bird that landed on them -- in his car, along with a pot of glue.
Colm Dempsey, White's lawyer, said his client's treatment of birds was humane. He said when White set traps he waited by them so he could remove any birds immediately, rather than leave the traps and come back to check them, as some other trappers do.
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