AUGUST 12 – the so-called Glorious 12th – was just the start of the grouse shooting season, which runs until December 10. During this time, shooters will kill around half a million birds who have been encouraged to breed by intensive management of the UK's moorlands.

Just ahead of the next big date in the shooting calendar – the start of the pheasant shooting season – Animal Aid will hold its National Anti-Shooting Week, September 20 to 26. Supporters will take to the streets to highlight the cruelty of killing birds for pleasure and ask the public to back our campaign to ban the production of birds for shooting.

Annually, around 50 million pheasants and partridges are purpose-bred to serve as targets for wealthy shooters. The industry's own figures show that only around 15% of the birds are eaten and surplus birds are buried in specially dug pits.

Readers who would like to find out more should visit our website www.animalaid.org.uk or call the office and order an Anti-Shooting Information Pack.

Fiona Pereira Animal Aid.