The animal rights activist group known as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has introduced a fleet of surveillance drones called “Air Angels,” which it is willing to sell to anyone who wants to keep tabs on local hunters.
The idea behind this program is that if any watchers witness illegal or cruel hunting practices via this eye-in-the-sky program, they can call the authorities and contact PETA to get the footage shared online.
PETA debuted the Air Angel this past Monday, the first day of bow hunting season in Massachusetts. In an interview with Mashable, PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt said that activists could use the drone to see which hunters jumped the gun on their Monday morning hunting session, and could not wait until one-half hour before sunrise, as is stated in state regulations.
Drone users spying on hunters did, in fact, catch some hunters, and reported the footage to local authorities.
“[Authorities] were very receptive, and they said they were going to look into it,” Rajt said. “I think people should call in violations as they see them.”
Dennis Boomer Hayden, president of the Massachusetts Bowhunters Association, disagreed with Rajt’s assessment.
“Hunters already have a police force that watch us, they're called game wardens,” Hayden told Mashable. “Obviously, they more than protect the wildlife in Massachusetts. They would arrest a hunter if they were doing something wrong.”
Hayden added a warning to potential drone users that there is a law against harassing hunters in Massachusetts, under which it is illegal to both “drive or disturb wildlife or fish for the purpose of interrupting a lawful taking” and to “block, follow, impede or otherwise harass another who is engaged in the lawful taking of fish or wildlife.”
“Anybody that's going to go out there and buy one of these things to go watch hunters, it's a form of harassment, and they're breaking the law,” Hayden said.
The device itself is a Parrot AR Drone 2.0. It has custom decals on it that read “Air Angels: Protecting Wildlife with Drones.” On PETA’s website, the device is described as follows:
Using your hobby drone, you can collect instant to-your-phone video footage of hunters engaging in illegal activity, such as drinking while in possession of a firearm, injuring animals and failing to pursue them, and illegally using spotlights, feed lures, and other nasty but common hunting tricks. Your amateur footage can be used to alert game wardens and other authorities to who is doing what to animals.
See the PETA drones in action below:
PETA plans on selling the Air Angel for $325. According to Rajt, the organization isn’t earning a profit from its sales.
Story via: mashable.com
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