Cheshire woman takes on Mission 500 | Knutsford Times

Cheshire woman takes on Mission 500

By on September 4, 2017

Sandbach resident Olivia Masi is taking part in a wildlife saving mission that has caught the attention of wildlife conservation celebrities across Europe.

The project is all about raising awareness of cruelty to birds – including poaching and cruel hunting methods – across Europe, using a classic Fiat 500 as a mascot to draw attention along the way.

Olivia said: “We are a nation of bird lovers, we feed them in our gardens, we create nature reserves for them. But how many people understand the perils these birds face once they leave our shores for migration? I wanted to do something different that would really attract people’s attention to this problem.”

The Mission 500 team will be visiting poaching hot-spots in Northern Italy doing both covert to gather evidence of  crimes and deter poaching from taking place. They will be trained by and working with the charity Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and also Italian
police and local organisations.

In Northern France they will be visiting two areas, before one final pit stop to help raise awareness of wildlife crimes here too. The destination will be determined by the Hunt Investigation Team (H.I.T.) nearer the time.

They leave Cheshire for Italy 23rd September to begin their three week mission and will be using Facebook Live to broadcast their experiences. You can also follow them on Twitter or follow Olivia’s blog.

About Lucy Thorpe

Lucy Thorpe is a freelance journalist who writes for the Knutsford Times - covering stories and news in and around Cheshire and Greater Manchester. If you've got a story to share, or would like to speak to Lucy, please email news@knutsfordtimes.co.uk

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