READERS may be shocked to learn that every year in Britain, about 50 million pheasants and partridges are mass-produced to serve as feathered targets for wealthy “guns”. From birth they are confined in cages, sheds and pens, in which disease and death are a daily feature.

Many birds, frightened and stressed are fitted with restraining devices over their beaks to prevent them from pecking their cage-mates. About half the released birds die before they can be gunned down. They perish from exposure, starvation, disease or predation, or under the wheels of motor vehicles. For a free Anti-Shooting Action Pack, call Animal Aid on 01732 364546 or go to animalaid.org.uk Mrs Alison Yates Union Street Egerton