Thanks to the blog reader who sent us these cuttings from Tuesday’s edition of the Derry Post – front page news, no less:
In this latest case, the local council is having to make arrangements to remove the corpses (at the taxpayers’ expense, of course).
This dumping of shot pheasants is becoming quite a regular habit, isn’t it? (E.g. see here, here, here, here, here). Somebody really should set up a website where this obscene practice can be documented in one place.
We can expect to see a lot more of it in the future as the game shooting industry struggles to get shot birds in to the human food chain and yet still releases in to the countryside an estimated 50 million non-native gamebirds every year, just to be shot for fun. As the industry is largely unregulated, there is no sign of this number being reduced, either volunatarily or via legislation (see here).
Raptor Persecution UK 
Disgusting……..worse than flytipping
So called guardians of the countryside!
I agree with Macgee, its irresponsible & a disgusting health hazard
This is a terrible thing. It is waste of lives. A danger to health. Appalling. Shows of the worst of humanity’s attitude to those who are not human.
It s also against the stray dogs act….it being an offence to cause a dog to stray….
I had success getting someone who muckspread a load of dead piglets to desist.
It used to be administered by weights and measures department at trading standards bizarrely…
But there ya go.
The headlines say it all for me….a danger to human health, never mind the outrageous cruelty and disrespect of nature. Commodification of animals is utterly repulsive and this type of thing is what you end up with when that attitude prevails……
I hope Mark doesnât mind my mentioning him! Dreadful nonsense on Farming Today this am! My response below:
From: Betty [mailto:bettylee_uk@btinternet.com] Sent: 18 January 2018 13:53 To: ‘farming.today@bbc.co.uk’ Subject: Bias this morning
Bradford councillors vote to ban grouse shooting on Ilkley Moor
I note you gave the shooters the last word and there was no opposing view expressed . The councillor had to be unbiased â unlike your programme!
I am sick to death of Grouse Moor shooters claiming good conservation when in fact they create a black hole for all of our predatory birds and mammals. The list is endless, every day tagged birds like red kites, golden eagles, hen Harriersâ¦. vanish over grouse moors. Is that conservation?
Burning the heather is NOT good practice; it leaves a compacted surface causing rapid run off of rain water â check with those poor people living near grouse moors who have been flooded.
It is obvious that the powerful people who run grouse shoots â driven grouse in particular – can spout any rubbish they like and thoughtless people believe it.
PLEASE can we have someone like Mark Avery to respond to this nonsense.
Thank you
Betty Lee
Christ alive, what is happening to our (once) wonderful world. 50 million non endemic pheasants ravaging thro’ our woodlands causing untold damage to invertebrates, for what? to be shot by persons with serious blood lust and hard up councils having to clear up the carcases and then council tax payers footing the bill, beggars belief.
Incidentally a few days ago I was talking to a guy who had just returned from a pheasant shoot.
A warning was given NOT to shoot a buzzard that flew overhead, what happens next? yes you can guess, one of the inbreds promptly shot same buzzard. This episode happened in Herefordshire.
Well it’s good to see that the press have done a big article so soon after the incident. It’s interesting to note that the person who made this discovery appears to be the main source for the story rather than the Council or, dare I say it, the police! Anyway, let’s hope this quick appeal for information works.
If anyone in Scotland finds this sort of thing (i.e. a very large pile of dead birds dumped in a seclude place) they may well be animals irresponsibly disposed of after a shoot is unable to get anyone to take the surplus of birds from the ridiculous numbers they have shot…or… maybe someone is rearing or keeping pheasants and just had an outbreak of bird flu so they’ve collected all the carcasses and dumped them before anyone finds out. There have been outbreaks of bird flu in pheasants before (e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/24/bird-flu-found-in-flock-of-farmed-pheasants-in-lancashire ), so just to be sure I recommend reporting any large pile of dead birds just in case: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/farmingrural/Agriculture/animal-welfare/Diseases/disease/avian
After all, the advice on Scottish Government’s own website is “If you find a dead bird of prey, gull or wildfowl species, or find five or more birds of any other species in the same location and at the same time, please report these incidents to Defra’s national helpline (email defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk or telephone 03459 335577, Mon-Fri 8am to 6pm).”
(Animal disease is one area where there is a GB wide responsibility hence the defra helpline)
Of course maybe it isn’t bird flu but if there’s a sniff of some other welfare issue or if any regulations on dumping of animals have been broken then maybe it’ll be followed up. I know many people have downer on the authorities and attitudes in this area but not everyone that works for them approves of this sort of thing and eventually someone might see something they think worthy of a prosecution. Either way can’t do any harm to report it.
Does the new Bird Flu legislation apply to those rearing pheasants?
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu
and – The birders do it, you know, just to make trouble for the shooters.
This is disgusting!! Who do we think is more likely to be causing the spread of Avian Flu? More likely to be spreading Bovine TB than any badger. Wild birds or the game birds who are often brought in or bred from birds in Europe, kept in tiny pens for up to 3 years, unregulated live exports/imports as they aren’t food so the rules are different, then millions of these non-native released into the countryside blasted to bits with bodies and parts left behind to rot or dumped, most of them are killed with lead shot so are toxic to predators and can harbour and spread disease. Absolutely sickening. Such a waste of beautiful animals just for psychopaths to have ‘fun’ killing. When is this abomination going to be banned?! Oh it won’t because the shooting industry is worth £2 billion to the economy (apparently).