Don’t give yourself extra work, that’s what I say. We don’t need to teach farmers who slaughter beavers to have ’empathy’ for the animals they kill. We just need them to stop doing it. And the best way to do that if you ask me is to slap them with a big old waterstorage-fine or biodiversity fine for killing the beavers in the first place.

They have empathy for their wallets, already, right?

We can use all that money to install flow devices on farmers who have legitimate concerns. Why make more work when there doesn’t need to be? I don’t need you to feel different. I need you to act different.

Holyrood study to look at empathy training in animal harm crimes

THE Scottish Government will look into the effectiveness of empathy training for those who commit crimes against animals as proposed new welfare legislation faces its final vote.

The Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill will be voted on at stage three today and will look to strengthen penalties for offences against animals.

Ahead of the debate on the bill, Rural Affairs Minister Mairi Gougeon announced plans to commission a research project into empathy training which could be used as a community sentence for some offences.

The project will soon be put out to tender, with the research due to last for six months.

Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell tabled amendments to end the docking of dogs’ tails along with curtailing the licensed killing of beavers while his colleague Alison Johnstone will push for more protections for mountain hares – for which a petition garnered 10,000 signatures.

Hey I got an idea. If you want to curtail the licsensed killing of beaver. Stop issuing the licenses, Ya think?

I’m an old fashioned girl. I think if you want to STOP things you have to first say DON’T do that and then when it happens slap it with a big ole consequence. Something the hurts them where they live. Something their neighbors can see too. Maybe print the fines in the paper.

Empathy training doesn’t even work for child abuse. It’s not likely to work for beavers.

Here’s some empathy training filmed by Moses Silva in 2014.

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