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Should people raise game simply to hunt?

10/5/2015

8 Comments

 
PictureCommon pheasant - commons.wikimedia.org
In the UK, the pheasant season has started with an outcry over the number of game birds being reared in cages, only to be released and shot.

These are beautiful birds are not native to Britain, but have a long history of residence. Over the years, we have welcomed several into the shelter of our back garden. They are shy though, and flutter away at the first sign of movement. We peek through the glass door in our communal hall to catch a glimpse of their brilliant feathers, glinting in the light. So far this year, I haven't seen any.

Anti-blood sports campaigners like the League Against Cruel Sports and Animal Aid describe the annual shooting season as the “Cruel Game”.

You might wonder why.

Pheasants and partridges used for breeding are confined in tiny wire-mesh cages for months or even years rather than wandering around the countryside in freedom.

The shooting industry says the sport is worth £2 billion to the UK economy and supports the equivalent of 74,000 full-time jobs.

Animal welfare organisations are calling for a ban on metal battery cages for both pheasants and partridges, which they say are “cruel and oppressive”. Source: Express. 

Lord Aldenham owns all the land for miles opposite Elstree where I live. My neighbour and I used to walk around various parts of our area every morning. One day we strayed further along some private land and climbed the style beside the locked metal gate. We'd never seen anyone on the land apart from teenage boys carrying fishing rods toward the small lake on the property.

But that day, a work car pulled up at the gate and a ranger climbed out. We admitted we were taking a walk. The ranger asked us to leave, because we'd scare His Lordship's pheasants and the shooting season was just about to begin.

We retraced our steps, shamefaced. His Lordships pheasants were left in peace that day, before being blasted with pellets a week later.

If these were pheasants who enjoyed a life of freedom until that day, it wouldn't be so bad. But, how cruel for industrious people to raise birds simply to be shot for sport.

Do you know of similar activities?


8 Comments
Alana link
10/5/2015 03:28:11 am

In some southern states here in the United States (Texas comes to mind), we have private game reserves. They specialize in big game not native to this country such as antelope, along with pheasants and non-native deer. Some preserves offer picture safaris - many, though, are for hunting. To be honest, I was naive enough to believe they were raised in natural surroundings. Your post has made me wonder!

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Mary Hill link
10/5/2015 03:43:14 am

That is cruel. I wish birds were not hunted like this. I agree at least they could let them roam in an open in environment even it they had netting over it so they could not escape.

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Leanne link
10/5/2015 03:49:35 am

I didn't know any of this - I always thought pheasants were a local breed of bird that were shot for sport and to cull their numbers. It sounds like quite an industry over there and I would not want to be weighing in on the decision of whether to stop it or not - the cages sound awful though.

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Ruthanne link
10/5/2015 07:08:06 am

Here in the States, chickens and turkeys are raised the same way - in incredibly unsanitary conditions. I agree with your point of view on the treatments of pheasants kept in small wire cages.

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PAULETTE link
10/5/2015 07:49:42 am

I didn't know pheasants weren't native to Britain either. I always thought it was done to minimize an over population of pheasants but I guess not. Well after the pheasants are shot, what happens to them? Are they brought back to these people's homes and then served for dinner? Or perhaps given to food banks to feed the poor? I hope they're not just discarded. That would seem like such a waste.

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Salma link
10/5/2015 09:52:52 pm

I didn't realize this was going on. It seems sad.

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Barbara link
10/6/2015 09:31:49 am

How lovely to see these right in your own backyard. I thought they were native to your area and hunted to cull their numbers. The metal cages are awful. :(

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Jim Bauer link
10/7/2015 06:52:26 am

I, for one, have never been against hunting for food. That being said I do have some issue with shooting for simple sport, and the conditions the pheasants are put under bother me as well, I don't think we should be using animals in this way, THAT being said, even many question marks come up in the entire industry of livestock. We have to eat. I just wish we had better alternative in the raising and processing of animals we intend to eat.

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    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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