The arrival of the so-called "Glorious Twelfth" is not so glorious for the countless animals maimed and slaughtered in the name of sport.
This "sport" causes unnecessary suffering and death to a wide range of animals, both directly for the flying target birds and indirectly due to the rigorous predator control programmes on shooting estates.
Animal welfare organisations have long been concerned that many shot birds are not killed outright. A former senior officer with Britain's leading shooting lobby group, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), was recently reported to have revealed that in a study, "BASC discovered that 30%-40% of birds shot at are wounded and go off to die in the woods. People are atrocious at judging the effective range of shotguns. This is a factor of lack of training". As far as I am aware, the study was never published.
Another major concern is the extent of predator control on grouse estates to create an environment where the target species can be kept at unnaturally high population levels until the shooters arrive. Poisoning of raptors has also been associated with shooting estates. The cruel, indiscriminate snare is the most-used weapon in the gamekeeper's lethal armoury against 'wild animals such as foxes.
Proponents of shooting may attempt to justify its continued existence on financial grounds. However, killing animals for fun in the name of sport is not an activity of which compassionate Scots are proud.
Ross Minnett, Campaigns director, Advocates for Animals, 10 Queensferry Street, Edinburgh.
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