Shooting for sport is a well-funded pastime. The arguments may be it is conducted by people with an interest in the countryside and wildlife, who are well trained and qualified to carry a gun and who will shoot a pheasant to bring it home for the pot, but this is very far from the truth.

Thirty-five million pheasants are bred for sport each year in Britain. About half die before that are shot due to disease, predation, exposure, or in road accidents. The remaining 16 million are shot, of which only half are thought to be eaten. Gamebird shooting has little to do with conservation and more to do with factory farming for sport. Because of the low price a pheasant now fetches, unwanted shot birds will be buried in the ground after a shoot.

A League member has told us what it is like living near a shooting estate. One of the worst things, she explained, is the way in which birds are abandoned after the shooting season has finished in February. The birds are simply left to their own devices. Contrast this to a farmer, say, who neglected to feed his livestock, and left them to wander aimlessly, getting run over on roads and dying from exposure and starvation. This would be seen as neglect and the farmer would be prosecuted for causing unnecessary suffering.

Areas of Concern

In summer millions of poults are transported from breeding factories to shooting estates. A couple of months old and unused to the outside world they are released into large enclosed pens that will gradually be opened up. After a few weeks most of them will have escaped into wilder areas and have to face predators and busy roads. Enormous numbers of birds are killed on the roads, and although some will meet a quick death there will be others that will die slowly and painfully from their injuries. This also causes danger to road users.

Currently, just causing suffering to an animal is not deemed cruel in law. The reasons for inflicting suffering must be considered when investigating a possible case of cruelty to animals and it needs to be established that the suffering was unnecessary for it to be deemed cruel. To breed animals for the purpose of killing them and to do it in such a way as to cause suffering is unnecessary cruelty and should be banned.

Pheasant shooting throws up several areas of concern. Firstly, breeding conditions that are far from acceptable, and the situation the birds are left in when released into the wild once the season comes to a close. Leaving a farmed animal to fend for itself for itself in a dangerous environment raises many serious questions. Secondly, there are environmental concern over the effects of releasing millions of farmed birds into the ecosystem, which inevitably causes disruption to the balance of nature. Lastly, for those living close to a big shoot, noise pollution and hordes of dead and wounded birds on the roadside are issues.

The Game Conservancy Trust, the shooting fraternity's advising body, states: "Where welfare standards are not maintained, reared game can actually be detrimental to other wildlife". Problems caused by the intensive rearing methods are stressed and disease among birds, crop damage and soil erosion around the release pen, and weakening of the wild population's gene stock.

Mutilation of the Birds

In the wild, pheasants live in very small groups, whereas when farmed, several hundreds of them are crammed together in breeding units. In the wild, cocks fight to establish territory. These instincts remain in farmed birds so their intensive living conditions leads to aggression. To counteract this, various methods of mutilations and physical restraint are used.

Beak Trimming: Pheasants have their beaks trimmed or partially removed in order to prevent feather picking and cannibalism. This is done on birds as young as 10 days and will be repeated approximately every couple of weeks. The beak is a highly sensitive, vital organ and to have it amputated will cause great pain and suffering.

Bitting: Involves incomplete rings or plastic or metal being inserted between the upper and lower mandibles of the beak and clipped into the nostrils to keep it in place. The bits must be changed as the beak grows in size. The purpose of bits is to prevent the beak from closing, which prevents birds pecking each other. Bitting is seen as a "welfare measure" as it stops cannibalism and injury, but this shows a complete disregard for the birds' natural behaviour.

Even gamekeepers themselves admit that bitting is unnatural and stressful for the animals. The practice has also been linked to fatal disease.

Specs: Are designed to restrict the pheasant's field of vision to prevent aggression between the birds. The specs are kept in place by being clipped into the birds nostrils or by a plastic pin being forced through the membranes of the nasal septum. This latter method is illegal but does happen, according to a report by Animal Action. (Picture left from the League Against Cruel Sports)

Brails: Bands of nylon tape strapping one wing to the body in order to prevent birds from flying away. It also stops them from spreading their wings and preening, both natural behaviour in the wild.

Causing Damage to the Environment

According to a recent booklet 'The Gamekeeper', jointly produced by English Nature and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), "Shooting estates and game-keepers make significant contributions to biodiversity and the conservation of rare species". Reality is a long way away from the propaganda.

Prior to the release of young pheasants, as many predators as possible are removed from the area by a variety of methods: shooting crows and squirrels from their nests; illegal laying of poisons; setting traps and snares for foxes, weasels, stoats, mink, etc. Hounds may also be used to flush out unwanted foxes.

To ensure that enough pheasants remain around the release site to provide big bags on shooting days, quantities of feed is provided. Some is laced with antibiotics to help reduce disease in the birds. These drugs can find their way into the food chain with unknown side effects. The concentration of pheasants in feeding areas can have a devastating effect on the ecology of the woodland in the vicinity, with the ground flora trampled and invertebrate populations decimated. Rats are attracted to the feeding sites. The BASC states that shooting is "a unique and wonderful experience". Many shooters teach their children from an early age to kill for fun. There is no legal restriction on the age at which a child can use a shotgun to kill animals.

By learning to respect and care for animals, children also learn to respect and care for other people. To encourage young children to kill animals for pleasure with shotguns is morally wrong and should be outlawed.

Published in the Wildlife Guardian, Summer 2002
 

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