After a successful and swift campaign by ‘The Steeple Times,’ chef Jason Atherton is to be saluted for doing the right thing and banning the sickening goat slaying Capreolus Club from his premises; it is time these barbarians were banned full-stop
Now, after first being forced to take down their advert for a “club social” at Richard Caring’s swanky Mark’s Club in Mayfair on 8th September, the relocated event of the goat slaying Capreolus Club on that date at Jason Atherton’s Berners Tavern at the Edition Hotel in Fitzrovia has also been quite rightly canned.
As described in The Steeple Times on Sunday after Mr Atherton, the Berners Tavern, Edition Hotels and the public relations representatives for them after all failed to respond to request for comment on Friday and Saturday, we again shared that members of the Capreolus Club pay around £1,000 a pop to stalk goats in “the north of England and Scotland.” Of this, the twisted club enthuses: “If you want to hunt in the UK and fancy taking a break from deer, then feral goat stalking is a must.”
In the missive sent on Friday at 3:59pm, Matthew Steeples most fairly offered a 24-hour window for response from the 10 contacts emailed and asked:
- Have you accepted a booking from the Capreolus Club for the 8th September 2022 at 6.30pm at the Berners Tavern at the Edition Hotel?
- If so, did you know that the Capreolus Club is an ‘organisation’ that tells it members that “goat shooting is a must” in the UK?
- If so, do you also endorse the slaying of goats in the British Isles in this truly barbaric manner as a bit of fun?
- Do you feel that killing goats by chasing them across the hills to slay them as “a break from deer” is something that should be celebrated with a ritzy dinner at the Berners Tavern at the Edition Hotel?
Subsequently highlighted after a lack of reply by Sunday in the form of an article and a Change.org petition that was signed by 123 goat loving people prior to being declared victorious on Tuesday 9th August, a PR representative named Kate Bell eventually replied on Monday 8th August at 10.57am.
As we then added in an update to our article at 2pm on Monday 8th August for the sake of clarity, Kate Bell of Purple PR – without answering our four questions – told us:
“Many thanks for your email and for bringing this matter to our attention. Berners Tavern is not aware of this event and is not hosting it. We have asked the club to remove the event from their website as a matter of urgency.”
Later on, responding at 5.05pm, another Ms Bell, this time one named Gemma Bell of Gemma Bell and Company, further remarked:
“I have been looped into this email thread by Purple PR because I am Jason’s publicist. I would like to reiterate that Jason Atherton and Berners Tavern were not in any way aware of the nature of the booking. Now this has been brought to light the booking has been cancelled and the Club informed.”
“As Kate said, this should be taken down from their website immediately so we are also hoping that you will take down the article from yours. I also noticed a recipe of Jason’s on the website, this will also need to be removed, not quite sure why it’s included [editor’s note: The recipe is for a dish made with GOAT cheese].”
“Jason Atherton was not aware that this booking had been made at Berners Tavern, and it has now been cancelled. Jason and The Social Company do not condone any barbaric treatment of animals. The Capreolus Club is banned from all of The Social Company’s sites.”
Going further at 8.22am this morning in another email, Gemma Bell added:
“I am surprised to see the article is still up on your website with the addition of emails from Purple PR. However, your headline is very misleading and incorrect since the booking is no longer at Berners Tavern and the group have been banned from all restaurants part of The Social Company.”
Responding this morning, Matthew Steeples observed:
“Our article was anything but ‘misleading’ as clearly a booking had been taken by the Berners Tavern for an event for the goat slaying Capreolus Club. We received no response Friday and we rightly chose to highlight publicly available information on that club’s website.”
“Though I am pleased that this wicked celebration of massacre has now been cancelled and salute Jason Atherton for banning the Capreolus Club from his venues, it is not for PR people to tell journalists what they can and cannot publish. This article today clarifies the cancellation made, hails the decisive action of Jason Atherton and now our Change.org petition will now be marked as successful also.”
“As with Mark’s Club – who did not demand the removal of our articles – we commend all who join with us in banishing goat slayers from their orbit. Chasing such beautiful creatures across the hills to slay them as ‘a break from deer’ is totally reprehensible and unacceptable and should be called out as such.”
Equally, as one of our esteemed readers, a marketing expert from New York, commented in a private message yesterday: “I would have thought [these PR people] could get more PR mileage out of being horrified at the Capreolus Club and how Jason is thrilled to say he’s banning them forever, rather than trying to get you to take down your posting.”
“As you allude to in your email, easier to make goat cheese from live goats than slaughtered ones.”
Pictured top – A happy goat jumping for joy at news of the Capreolus Club again getting banished.
Thank you for making those morons’ lives that little bit more difficult.
Nothing irks me more than pathetic people who kill for fun.
What about us plastic ducks? Last week over 75,000 plastic ducks were forced to take part in a race in Chicago. The worst part is that they had to wear sunglasses, thus making in impossible to navigate. It reminded me of FBI agents raiding Mar-a-Lago. Thousands of ducks get waylaid and abandoned after a race due to this barbaric practice.
This hunting thing is a disgrace.
They were in Melania’s closest. They were probably just looking for fashion ideas for when they transition. Bet they didn’t search Hillary’s closet for those 33,000 emails she deleted or cleaned with bleach bits. All Soros,Obama & Hillary are doing is making President Trump.a martyr.
#Trump\DeSantis 2024
Well Duckie,one thing’s for sure. The U S Stasi seem to prefer conservative women. One of them stole Marla Maples Trumps shoes to sniff. Does make one wonder if they stole Melania’s shoes also or,something more shall we say unmentionable.. Ya know,come to think of it, crackhead Hunter also loves sniffing things. Well, so does ole ghost hand shaker Joe. They failed with the Russia, Russia, Russia collusion so, they will try to stop him any way they can.
#DoNotTakeRevenge
#VoteInAllAmericaFirstCandidates
#DoNOTStoopToTheirLevel
Goats aren’t native to the UK, having been introduced.
As with deer, they breed fast. Too many of them and they destroy the very habitat that other animals, including our pressured birds and insects need.
Whether you like these folks or not, what on earth is wrong with the ethical, humane destruction of goats that will then go into the food chain? It’s a damn sight more humane than the fate of the other meat on the menu that’s endured the trip to an abattoir.
Get over yourselves for Pete’s sake.
Do you Geoff of “Chiltern Vension” work for the Capreolus Club and/or are you a member of said sick organisation?
Why would you want to endorse those who chase said mammals across the hills of northern England and Scotland in such a barbaric manner?
Why don’t you “get over yourself for Pete’s sake” back at you [email protected] Geoff.
What’s in-humane about the stalking of wild animals that enter the food chain afterwards?
Humane dispatch of goats, pigs or deer using rifles as part of a stalking exercise strikes me as more ethical than the mass execution of animals at an abbatoir.
Unless you are vegan or vegetarian, which are choices in hugely respect, eating wild meat sourced from hunting is much better in many ways than factory meat from intensive farms.
No, I don’t work for them. Wouldn’t know them if I met them on the street and have precisely no connection or affiliation with them.
Thanks for publishing my email address, please also add my website ChilternVenison.co.uk where those interested in seeking to understand the issue better can learn more about the need for deer / boar/feral goat management (culling) and why I deliver this service for organisations including The National Trust, The Woodland Trust and The Wildlife Trust.
They recognise the need for it, as does environmental writer George Monbiot. It’s not about killing for fun, it’s about managing deer populations that exceed this densely
populated country’s carrying capacity. Deer numbers increase by up to 30% pa depending on the species fecundity and in the absence of bears, wolves, lynx etc that is unsustainable.
Two years of lockdown prevented the necessary maintenance cull numbers and accelerated the population explosion.
Not everyone likes it, but denying the need for it is to deny the science.
If you want to understand the issue better then either read up on George Monbiot’s journey or come out with me and I’ll show you why and how we endeavour to be as selective and humane as is possible.
Otherwise, let us get on with it and stop trying to cancel culture.
If you believe conservation to be important then you should be thanking people for culling feral goats, rather than vilifying them.
Feral goats are recognised as one of the 100 worst non-native species in the world, responsible for both loss of vegetation and destruction of the soil crust.
Rather than taking my word for it, you can read about the problems feral goats cause by visiting the Global Invasive Species database:
http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=40
This is why countries like New Zealand and Australia have instituted programs to cull and – where possible – eradicate feral goats:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/feral-goat.pdf
If you feel the Antipodes to be too far away to be relevant, read the Scotland’s Nature Blog, where they describe feral goats as “an invasive non-native species with the potential to cause serious damage to habitats.”
https://scotlandsnature.blog/2017/01/26/feral-goats-dont-be-a-silly-billy-there-are-goats-around/
This also explains why the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 classified feral goats as non-native to the UK and made releasing them into the wild an offence.
If you remain unconvinced, have a read of the article published in The Guardian just this week:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/10/driving-out-invasive-species-on-islands-high-success-rate-big-benefits-aoe
Play the time-lapse video in the article, and look at the dramatic improvement in the biodiversity once the goats were removed. Surely returning an environment to its natural state is something that should be celebrated?
All of the above explains why true conservationists welcome, and indeed encourage, the removal of feral goats.
None of this information is hard to discover – it only requires the most basic of research and a readiness to consider the science. Two things that, sadly, seem to be absent when it comes to the Steeple Times.
Geez Goeff
As someone who eats meat, is appears you are a total hypocrite to then denounce the sustainable and selective hunting of animals that will enter the food chain. I do not see the distinction between wild goat and the chicken or duck you have posted about enjoying of you IG feed Matthew. It seems like the measure of both wit and wisdom you like to talk about are being served in equally small measures.
Butchering… that certainly brings out the passions ..yikes. Humans are a dangerous bunch. Being a part of the food chain comforts them. The joyful responsibility of killing ..
Does the FBI slaughter goats?? Im confused.