In Britain, Raymond Elliott, a 58-year-old Staffordshire window cleaner, was found guilty of drowning a grey squirrel - which he had caught stealing from the nut feeders he kept for birds - in a water butt. Elliott was prosecuted by the RSPCA under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act for causing unnecessary suffering, and was given a six-month conditional discharge and a court order for £1,547 in costs.  

This landmark case has been widely seized upon in the British press as an example of how animal rights legislation has gone too far - and how as a nation, we’re all too keen to tell tales about our neighbours. So what is the most humane way to kill a squirrel? And what rights should we allow animals to have?