On Thursday 8th September 2022, ritzy Mark’s Club in Mayfair – the haunt normally of the likes of former Prime Minister David Cameron and David and Victoria Beckham – will welcome a bunch of barbarians who pay upto £1,000 a pop to kill a goats in the north of England and Scotland.

 

Members of the Capreolus Club, a clearly off-its-not-so-merry-rocker organisation “chaired” by someone named Peter Jones, are invited to join him and his “team for drinks on the terrace… at one of London’s most elegant and exclusive members’ clubs” at 7pm that night. They will no doubt celebrate what the club lists elsewhere on its webpages as “goat stalking in the north of England and Scotland.”

 

Of this clearly twisted behaviour, the club declares: “If you want to hunt in the UK and fancy taking a break from deer, then Fearl [sic] Goat Stalking is a must” yet fails to mention that this disgustingly sick “activity” was rightly condemned in an October 2018 article by Ruth Tingay in The New Statesman.

 

Of this, Tingay rightly remarked:

 

“The easiest way to get up close and personal to [one] is to open a bag of crisps within earshot, and then sit and wait for the goat’s curiosity and greed to get the better of it. You can snap a quick selfie whilst [it] munches its salty treat before both going your separate ways.”

 

“Alternatively, you could dress yourself in head-to-toe camouflage, arm yourself with a high-calibre rifle and pit your wits against this ferocious creature, shoot its brains out from a distance and then brag about your ‘hard core huntress’ status by posing triumphantly next to the corpse, impressing your social media followers and your shooting industry sponsors. Once you’ve demonstrated your prowess against this fearless predator, you can move on to the more challenging target of a black-faced ram.”

 

“American TV presenter and ‘world-renowned hunter’ Larysa Switlyk [a wicked wench condemned repeatedly in The Steeple Times previously] took the second option after recently visiting Islay in Scotland for what she described as a fun hunt,’ which has resulted in a Twitter storm of both rage and ridicule… Such was the fury and intensity of the public’s response, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made an announcement that the government would be ‘reviewing the current situation’ (of trophy hunting) and ‘considering whether changes to the law are required.’”

 

Going further, in April this year, Jamie Mann for The Ferret added:

 

“Scottish sporting estates are charging clients up to £1,000 to shoot wild goats years after public outrage over the practice prompted the Scottish Government to review shooting laws.

 

“The Ferret found five hunting companies advertising [such] hunting trips in the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.”

 

“This sparked international media coverage and condemnation from senior politicians and members of the public, which prompted the Scottish Government to review shooting laws.”

 

“The government told The Ferret its review ‘was paused during the pandemic but will be resumed shortly.’ The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting said it was ‘frankly baffling’ that the government hadn’t acted more quickly, given public support for a ban.”

 

“The Scottish Greens condemned ‘a small cabal of wealthy trophy hunters who take pleasure from killing animals’ while animal charity OneKind urged the government to stop sporting estates profiting from ‘this cruel type of tourism.’”

 

“London-based Capreolus Club, which is members only, offer feral goat stalking in Scotland…. ‘Regrettably, ill-informed comments in the press have the potential to harm the same animals that the press purport to be trying to help,’ the Capreolus Club told The Ferret.”

 

“’By publishing one-sided, ill-informed comments, many journalists are doing a disservice to wildlife and the environment, both of which deserve more serious, sensible debate,’ argued Peter Jones, the club’s founder and chief executive.”

 

The Steeple Times contacted Mark’s Club and the Capreolus Club and its “supporter” Swarovksi on Saturday 21st May for comment. No reply was received from the hunting organisation and though representatives for Swarovski and Mark’s Club claimed they would pass on our request, nothing has yet been received justifying why they would associate with those who wish to go around so sickly slaying such beautiful creatures. Frankly, today, we say: Shame on all of them.

 

We urge readers to join us in calling on Mark’s Club – unless they wish to continue to associate with gruesome killers – to cancel the Capreolus Club drinks party on 8th September 2022 and to make a suitable donation to an appropriate conservation charity.

 

Pictured top – The exterior of Mark’s Club, 46 Charles Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5EJ (left) and sick slayer Larysa Switlyk (right) with a victim she slayed on the Island of Islay in Scotland in October 2022. Miss Switlyk took to social media to describe the ‘event’ as “such a fun hunt” and claimed she “hunted hard for a big one for two days.”