Game birds are specially reared for shoots so can we really refer to them as having been wild in the true sense of the word? (Oct 9).

Many spend their lives in appalling factory farmingtype conditions.

There is also the perceived need to protect the game birds from predators using various means, often snares. These are barbaric and unselective, consigning the snared creature to an agonising death.

Rosemary McCarthy
Westwood Drive
West Mersea