Wendy Turner Webster & Peta

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Phil Hackett

Guest
I make no apologies for blagging this from another site. The author was Simon Newbold. The story is self-explanatory, Peta are using their celebrities to have a go.

If you care about your right to fish, I suggest you visit C4 feedback forum at www.channel4.com/c4info/index_r4.html
and lodge your disgust that someone who support this extremist organisation is presenting a pets programme. Remember, this organisation is that extreme that it thinks that people shouldn't even keep pets of any kind.

Hi all,
Looks like a campaign is starting... Page 27 of today's Daily Express:-

"STOP KILLING FISH, WENDY BEGS SCOUTS"

"Pet Rescue presenter Wendy Turner Webster is appealing to Boy Scouts to stop fishing. The animal lover has written to the Duke of Kent in his cpacity of President of the Scout Association, asking him to "retire the Scouts' Angler Proficiency badge" on the grounds of cruelty.

Writing on behalf of the organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), vegan Wendy,33, informs the Duke that killing fish is inconsistent with the Scouts' wholesome reputation and "setting out to attack animals.... is not in keeping with the image of Scouting".

Appealing to his traditional side, Wendy, who presents the Channel 4 animal rescue show, refers to the Scout Law that dictates "A Scout understands there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. He does not hurt or kill harmless things without reason". The letter appeals to the Duke to "put the violent pastime of fishing behind us and teach children to respect rather than kill wildlife".

In support of her letter PETA's spokesman Toni Vernelli says: " Scouts are supposed to be compassionate role models, not bloodthirsty fish killers"

Wendy has proposed the Angling badge be replaced by The Waterway Clean-up badge with the bob-a-jobbers clearing fishing debris from rivers, ponds and lakes, thus providing the Scouts with a "justified sense of accomplishment and civic pride".

Wendy, younger sister of fellow TV presenter Anthea and wife of former minder star Gary Webster, is a strong supporter of PETA. In February she was among a host of celebrities such as Joely Richardson and Dame Judi Dench who designed heart shaped cards campaigning for the better treatment of animals.

The Duke of Kent has so far not responded to Wendy's epistle"

So, there you go - anyone any good at writing letters?

Simon...
 
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Goose Ganderton

Guest
Hi all - I must congratulate you all on the sterling job you have been doing over the Wendy Turner story, keep it going. As I have mentioned in the past I am a professional press photographer working exclusively for the national newspapers and as such have a number of associations with various press agencies who supply the papers.

A couple of days ago I asked one of my guys to try and place the story. Well you will be pleased to know that the following story will appear in tomorrows Sunday Express as the lead story on page 33.

TV presenter Wendy Turner has landed herself at the centre of a bitter battle with Scouts and anglers after she called for the movement to ban a fishing achievement badge. Wendy, who presents the popular Channel 4 programme Pet Rescue, has been bombarded by furious anglers after she wrote a letter to the Scout Association. Now TV bosses have received hundreds of irate letters and e-mails from sport anglers and former Cub Scouts across the country. The Pet Rescue website has also been inundated with furious letters.

The TV presenter wrote to the president of Scouts, the Duke of Kent, asking him to "retire the Scouts Anglers Proficiency badge on the grounds of cruelty. But since penning the letter on behalf of the organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Wendy, 33, has faced a barrage of criticism. Her letter begged the Duke of York to "put the violent pastime of fishing behind us and teach children to respect, rather than kill wildlife". But respecting nature is exactly what the Scouts and anglers alike insist the badge does.

National Federation of Anglers spokesman Rodney Coldrone (CORR) said: "Wendy's comments are completely unfounded and in making them she is entirely out of order. Her comments about angling being cruel and references to children killing fish are completely misplaced.Nobody in their right mind would stop these scouts from going out into the countryside, enjoying nature and learning about wildlife.The Scout badge is about course fishing, which means they are taught to catch fish, study them, remove the hook properly and return the fish to the water safely. The badge teaches children not to be cruel, quite the opposite to what Wendy is suggesting - the fish are not killed.There are 3.3 million people in this country who enjoy fishing as a sport and unless they are fishing for food the fish are returned to the water unharmed.We represent 23,000 members who all go fishing for the sheer pleasure of it and who always return the fish to the waters.If it weren't for anglers many problems in our waterways, like pollution, would probably go undetected.With the Scout badge those taking it learn about wildlife, waterways, voles, herons, dragonflies and all sorts of things - it is not about killing fish. Wendy is wrong in what she writes and we will be writing our own letter to the Duke of Kent with our concerns about her comments."

In her letter to the duke Wendy, younger sister of TV golden girl Anthea Turner, informs him that "setting out to attack animals...is not in keeping with the image of Scouting". In support of her letter PETA spokesman Toni Vernelli said: "Scouts are supposed to be compassionate role models, not blood thirsty fish killers."

Wendy proposed the angling badge be replaced with a Waterway Clean-up badge with Scouts cleaning out fishing debris from rivers, ponds and lakes. But the Scout Association is refusing to drop the badge. A spokeswoman said yesterday/today: "We are aware of Wendy's comments but at this stage we are of the opinion that if the Environment Agency approve there is no problem with it. Although it is an angling badge it is not just about fishing. The badge allows Scouts to explore the countryside, how to behave around wildlife, water safety, how to spot and report pollution and a whole host of other things."
 
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Gary Magee

Guest
Dear Phil and Goose

May I congratulate you on your two great posts. Unfortunately I put my post in the thread concerning carp fishing (as I am quite new to this email lark!), but instead of getting support on this thread I received quite a condescending reply. I seem to have got the whole gist of this internet correspondence wrong in that instead of publicising things that affect our sport such as you have done, some people are far more concerned with scoring silly points. The worldwide web is such a big thing it should be used to publicise important things like you have done to get people thinking and doing something about their sport and getting as many people to participate in these chatrooms as possible, instead of operating a little clique which seems to operate on some of these threads. Its no wonder that its the same old people that write in night after night. Once again you brought up a great point
 
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Peter Morton

Guest
Dear goose.It's not always what you know but who you know!!!!!!!!Well more power to your elbow.

Gary,
Condescending replies,little cliques,scoring silly points? Chill out,your not the only one who is new to this e-mail lark,i am to.It takes all sorts and a lot of these guys have obviously known each other for some time.If every thing was so serious it would soon become very boring,a little humour never hurts,and can often lead to the creation of other threads.Its certainly led me to explore other threads that i would not have looked at before.Just sit back and enjoy some of the banter!!!!!!!

Sorry if i have strayed to far from this thread ,PETER.
 
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gary magee

Guest
peter moreton
having looked at mine and your post in the cold light of day you are totally correct and i am now on a full course of chillout tablets.as a victim of an anti angler attack i can become a bit myopic about this subject.
 
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Alan Roe

Guest
Goose that was a superb bit of work getting that piece in the Sunday Express well done.
However along with the correspondant of all the other angling sites we now have the opportunity to give Peta a real bloody nose and set them back for some time to come.
Can I ask you to continue to bombard Channel4's forum with appropriat statements about this issue and at the same time e-mail copies of your comments to yyour local press letters pages.
Refer to the inappropriateness of a Peta spokesperson fronting a pets programme especially as Peta is opposed to the keeping of pets.
Also make plenty of reference to some of their wilder staments about whats OK in pursuit of their 'Cause' including murder.
To really make a telling point refer to the 6 year old girl that was injured in the most recent set of mail bombings by one of these animal rights nutters who is starting court proccedings at this time.
Cheers
Alan
 
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Alan Roe

Guest
This was recived by myself today...

Dear Mr Roe

Thank you for your email to Michael Jackson who has asked me to respond on
his behalf.

The rules of the Reach 4 forum are stated very clearly. This includes
deleting any profanity or comments or accusations that could be seen as
libellous. As the forum covers a wide range of subjects at any one time,
'threads' are sometimes merged, this unfortunately sometimes gives the
appearance that they have been removed- however, they are still there.

You also raised issues concerning Wendy Turner-Webster and PETA. Wendy
Turner-Webster is not a member of PETA and has no formal links with the
organisation. Her recent letter to the Duke of Kent regarding fishing with
hooks reflects Wendy's own personal views, which she is entitled to hold.
She was not expressing her views on behalf of Channel 4 or PET RESCUE.

PET RESCUE is an observational documentary series that follows the work of
the RSPCA and other animal rescue centres around the country. The series
promotes responsible pet ownership - not animal rights - and we can see no
reason to question Wendy's role as its principal presenter.

Thanks for taking the time to email Channel 4. I hope I have addressed the
concerns you raised.

Yours sincerely

John Daniels
INFORMATION OFFICER



Any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of Channel Four Television Corporation unless specifically
stated. This email and any files transmitted are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error, please notify
postmaster@channel4.co.uk


Here is my response pleas feel free to use it as a basis for you e-mails to the station as we must not let this issue drop...

Dear Mr Daniels
I am aware that Ms Turner was not expressing the view of Channel 4 or
indeed Pet Rescue I have no problems with either the Channel or indeed the
programme.
My area of expressed concern was that Ms Turner was acting on behalf of Peta
regardless of any membership status when she sent the letter to the Duke of
Kent naturally cc'd to the press!!
I am expressing the gravest doubts about a person who is prepared to use
public persona to promote the views of this group who are quite open about
their support for the use of violence in the furtherance of their cause.
You may recall that a 6 year old child was recently injured as a result of a
mail bomb sent by an 'animal rights' activist.
I regard her views on angling as misguided as they appear to be uninformed
but I do not deny her the right to hold such views.
Equally one has to consider that she has upset untold numbers of people in
trying to inflict her views on the lives of others.
However I must bring into question her suitability to present a programme on
animal welfare when the group she has so publicly endorsed is opposed to any
form of human / animal interaction particularly as pets..
Yours
Sincerely
M. A. Roe

Come on Chaps Join in this is too important to ignore.
Cheers
Alan
 
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Kevan Farmer

Guest
Don't forget that another of PETA's aims is to deny everybody the right to eat meat. This needs to be brought to the attention of the general public also. Don't let the dictatorial likes of PETA, the ALF et al hide behind false claims and smokescreens.
 
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Alan Roe

Guest
I recieved this today......
Dear Mr Roe
Thank you for your email of May 11th.

We were sorry to read that you question Wendy Turner-Webster's suitability
as a presenter of the programme PET RESCUE.

We do feel that we have clearly stated Channel 4's position and that we have
done our best to assist you. Therefore, we regret that we are unable to
enter into any further correspondence on this subject.

If you continue to feel you have unresolved issues arising from your
complaint, we suggest that you address them to the ITC, the body that
licenses and regulates commercially funded television services in the UK.
Their address is:

Independent Television Commission
33 Foley Street
London W1P 7LB

Again, we do thank you for taking the time to write to us.

Yours sincerely

LINDA BRIANT
VIEWER ENQUIRIES MANAGER

They really don't want to discuss this issue do they!!!!
The good news is that the ITC have an on line complaints form so we dont have to go to the trouble of getting stamps and going to the post box!!
Here we go folks http://www.itc.org.uk/contact/prog_complaint_form.asp.
Please use this facillity to make our feelings known!! It's your sport that is being threatened so do something to protect it
Cheers
Alan
 
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Goose Ganderton

Guest
Nice one Alan. Done it, sent it.
What about the rest of you lot, lets show some unity here.

Goose (Malcolm) Ganderton
 
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Kevan Farmer

Guest
Please post the programme details. I'll gladly fill the form in then.
 
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gary magee

Guest
done it sent it (sorry its late but I,ve been in benidorm).I hope this post does,nt upset any body or sound like i,m shouting my head off(carp angler).
 
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Kevan Farmer

Guest
Done. I've also brought up the lead shot issue. It's about time an apology was broadcast for misinforming the public about lead shot and swan deaths. It has been banned in this country for fishing for the last 18 years after all. Just a thought too, it has never been stated that lead shot recovered from a swans stomach/gullet was split shot. If it was whole it vindicates anglers entirely. My own theory is that it came from shotgun cartridges having fished a complex where the overspray of shot from the clay shooting area regularly rained down on me. Not dangerously it had lost all of its velocity but it did land in the water and on the bank. One 'rain' was more shot than I ever lost in my whole lifetime of fishing.
 
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Phil Hackett

Guest
Kevan
Whilst I take the point you make since leadshot was banned and since the ban it has never been stated whether the lead recovered was splitshot or not.
However, you are incorrect to suggest that it was never stated at all (pre the ban). The Scientific paper that lead to ban was written by a Dr Spillit (yes that is his name! Names for jobs and all that!) from the Freshwater Biological Association if memory serves me right. Somewhere I've got that paper and when I find it I'll post the full title of it.
I also think you may find that shotgun cartridges have move, or are about to move to non toxic shot.
Later Phil H.
 
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Kevan Farmer

Guest
It will make interesting reading Phil. It is honestly the first time I have ever heard of this though. Why wasn't more made of it at the time? Believe me, when the ban came about I think I must have been buying nearly every fishing publication on the market....youth, plenty of money for these things you know.....
 
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