Anger over dumped birds

Shooters have condemned a video showing the mass dumping of pheasant carcases.

The video, shot by hunt saboteurs in November and released by Thetimes newspaper in January, shows hundreds of the birds being dumped into a pit by a digger on top of an existing pile of bodies at Cotesbach Game Farm in Leicestershire. The birds in the footage appear to have been breasted, the prime meat removed for consumption. The farm has denied any illegality but has nevertheless faced stern criticism from shooting organisations.

Steve Bloomfield, BASC’S executive director of operations, said: “It is unacceptable for birds to be disposed of in this manner. The person involved is not a member of BASC. We have referred the footage to the local authority so that they can investigate the circumstances and take legal action if required. BASC will also be reporting the shoot to the British Game Alliance (BGA) for disciplinary action.”

BGA managing director Tom Adams condemned the actions shown in the video “in the strongest terms” and said: “It seems these carcases may be from birds that have already been processed for meat, but that does not excuse the inappropriate disposal of the remains. The incorrect disposal of animal by-products is illegal and we ask that information relating to any such activity be reported to the proper authorities.”

Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner said that what was shown was “undoubtedly bad practice, and probably in breach of regulations of the disposal of animal by-products,” but that “it is not the evidence of the disposal of shot birds straight from the shoot that is endlessly claimed, but never shown, by anti-shooting activists.”