Reading University: End Shooting at Hall Farm
Posted 23rd September 2019
When I heard that the University of Reading lease land at its Hall farm for pheasant shooting, I was shocked and appalled. How can any university take part in this cruel practice when 69 percent of the population are against shooting birds for sport?
The University of Reading is now the last university in the United Kingdom to lease land for commercial game shooting since the University of Wales committed not to renew shooting licences at Gregynog Hall. It is now time to ask them to end shooting and not to renew the leases when they expire in February 2020.
Not only is game bird shooting bad for the environment by displacing native wildlife but often natural predators are caught by traps and snares to ensure shooters will have large quantities of gamebirds to shoot out of the sky. Does the University of Reading really want to have their name associated with such cruelty?
We’ve been speaking to the university about the future of shooting on its land, and as part of our campaign we booked a stall to be at the Students’ Union’s Freshers’ Fayre on 25th and 26th September. Sadly, as the campaign has not yet been adopted by the Students’ Union our stall was declined and our money refunded. This isn’t the university’s fault, and of course we have a Plan B! We will be spreading awareness outside the university’s Whitenight campus, talking to the thousands of students at the entrance who are heading into the fayre, hoping to sign them up to our campaign to help save the lives of hundreds of gamebirds.
We’ve also sent a letter to the Vice Chancellor with our concerns, and we’re pleased to say we’re being listened to. Communication is ongoing with his office and I hope we will have some definitive answers to share with you very soon. You can read Reading University’s statement here.
It may be too late to save this year’s gamebirds, but it is not too late to save the lives of many in the future.
You too can take action and help us by emailing the Vice Chancellors office here. By working together let us hope we can create a positive outcome for these animals and get shooting stopped at Hall Farm when the lease runs out in February 2020.