WHILE the economic downturn is giving us little to cheer about, one small glimmer of hope to come out of the deepening crisis is that perhaps the unscrupulous business of commercial shooting which depends heavily on corporate spend will also start to feel the crunch this year.

This weekend will herald the start of the pheasant shooting season, an industry which rears tens of thousands of birds in shockingly low welfare conditions before releasing them into the countryside to be shot by paying guns.

The UK shooting industry is grossly wasteful and dependant on the cash from fat cats with limitless expense accounts.

Members of shooting parties can each expect to kill as many as 300–400 birds a day on a corporate shoot spending anything up to £10,000 for the privilege. When most of us are tightening our belts and counting the costs of day to day living, the League Against Cruel Sports would like assurances from companies and businesses that they will not buy into this bloodsport which profits from companies willing to waste money killing live target for the sake of a corporate jolly.

DOUGLAS BATCHELOR Chief Executive, League Against Cruel Sports Godalming Surrey