No pleasure in the kill

PEOPLE in the countryside do know what it takes to get meat to the supermarkets and we understand culling (Letters).

What I object to is the pleasure that hunters take in killing — if not, why are the photos captioned ‘fun’?

I have owned two horses and would not want to dress up in hunting red, take a couple of swigs of sherry and ride around an abattoir with friends to chase down my quarry.

I am a good archer and it is a buzz to shoot a centre yellow on the target. I watched my grandfather wring the necks of his hens to roast for Sunday lunch and he never smiled triumphantly and had his photo taken to show to friends and the wider world.

J. M. LYNN, Guildford, Surrey.

LARYSA SWITLYK’S claim that she is shooting animals as part of game management and conservation (Mail) is debunked by her admission that when hunting goats in Scotland, she wanted to bag a large one.

trophy hunters target the most robust, physically fit individuals, which deprives the species of the most valuable genes.

BILL NAYLOR, Wilsford, Lincs.

I WISH the woman who shoots goats would come to my local allotments. She would be welcome to dispatch the goats that jumped over the wall from the farm next door to eat all my crops for the third year running.

MICHAEL MARSH, Saddleworth, Gtr Manchester.