At it again: international accounts caught hijacking UK PETA backed petition

It has been revealed that numerous accounts signing up to an online petition being pushed by UK animal rights activists, are registered to signatories based in a range of international locations; from America to Australia.

The Change.org petition was launched by an account based in the UK with an aim to 'Cancel the Great British Shooting Show' taking place in February 2020, at the NEC in Birmingham.

It has been pushed by extremist animal rights group, PETA.

The popular event will highlight the importance of the British shooting industry, which contributes big sums to the UK economy.

A quick scroll through found numerous accounts registered at international locations including: Cape Verde, the United States, Canada, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, Trinidad, South Africa and Panama.

Other entries include 'Bob the Builder' and 'Pizza King' as well as multiple accounts which left unrelated comments.

One user, 'Jane Bednall' said "my dog has a right state every year after the fireworks" and another user, 'Linda Brackenbury' commented "carers shouldn't be left alone with vulnerable people".

The findings cast doubt over the legitimacy of the petition and validity of its representation of UK based audiences.

Among other comments left were extremely violent comments, including one from 'Karan Capon-Richards' which said "Those involved should be lined up and shot".

Another, 'Phil Campion' said " We are all animals, shall we shoot YOUR children".

Commenting on these findings, Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance said: "Game is an incredibly tasty, healthy and sustainable meat that is becoming ever more popular on dinner tables up and down the country. As consumers become more environmentally conscious about the food they eat, the showcasing of game couldn't come at a better time.

"The shooting industry contributes huge sums to the UK economy, which in turn benefits many people. A petition pushed by extremist group PETA, which is 'signed' by numerous international accounts from America to Australia, is no substance for the reality: that across the UK, game consumption is on the rise." This is a fact that should be welcomed and is being celebrated.

A similar hijacked petition demanding Holyrood end 'the killing of wildlife on grouse moors and elsewhere is Scotland' was found to only contain 25% of accounts that gave their address as being in Scotland. More than 1,000 activists from more than 60 countries took part.

The show covers all disciplines of shooting and shooting related interests, featuring shot guns, rifles, airguns, optics, knives, game keeping, airsoft, arena displays, airgun ranges, private arms collections, gundogs, archery, gunsmith demonstrations and more.

When questioned by the Countryside Alliance about the string of violent comments being left on the petition site, a spokesman for Change.org said: "The Change.org Community Guidelines make it clear that we don't allow content that directly incites, glorifies, or encourages violence against anyone. As soon as Change.org users flag this sort of content we remove it. Thank you for flagging comments you are concerned about to us. We will remove any that are in breach of our guidelines from the site. You can find more information on Change.org's Community Guidelines here: https//www.change.org/policies/community "