Prince William 'to take part in Boxing Day shoot'
Posted 20th December 2016
Prince William 'to take part in Boxing Day shoot'
The League Against Cruel Sports were asked to respond to reports that Prince William and Kate would be taking part in a pheasant shoot on Boxing Day. This was our response.
Eduardo Goncalves, CEO of the League Against Cruel Sports animal welfare charity, said:
“William works so hard to oppose the ivory trade, so it’s a shame that he’s pursuing what is actually one of the most cruel hobbies in the UK. He may believe that shooting a pheasant for the table is perfectly natural.
"The reality is that 35 million pheasants and partridges are released onto UK shooting estates each year. They are factory farmed in conditions that wouldn’t be acceptable for chickens, many die before they even have the chance to be shot, and if anyone thinks that all those birds end up on someone’s table then they are living in dreamland. Meanwhile, huge numbers of foxes, hares, birds of prey and other animals are killed by gamekeepers to protect those birds – so they can be shot.
“William clearly has a conscience when it comes to killing animals for profit. But that is exactly what the pheasant and partridge shooting industry is. A pheasant might not be an elephant but it deserves the same respect – hopefully one day William and Kate will see that.”
Read our Pheasant and Partridge Shooting page, and find out more about partridges and pheasants.