Campaigners defend shooting ban
Anti-bloodsports campaigners have said the game-shooting industry should get its house in order before criticising the decision to ban shoots from public land in Wales.
The League Against Cruel Sports has hit back after the ban, announced by National Resources Wales (NRW) in September, was heavily criticised by both pro-shooting organisations and Conservative politicians in mid Wales.
National Resources Wales said it would no longer lease publicly owned sites for use by pheasant shoots, following a letter from Hannah Blythyn, the environment minister in the devolved Welsh assembly.
But assembly member for Montgomeryshire, Russell George, challenged Miss Blythyn to visit the area to meet "one of the many businesses that are now laying off staff."
Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies also warned that the ban would have a major effect on the economy, saying the sport brought in a huge number of visitors every year.
Andrew Gilruth, of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, said it was odd that pheasant shooting had been singled out when the minister had announced her support for shooting deer, foxes, crows, magpies and squirrels.
He accused Miss Blythyn of allowing her own personal views to over-rule research which had been carried out by NRW.
However Chris Luffingham, campaigns director of the League Against Cruel Sports, said the decision had the overwhelming backing of the public.
He said 76 per cent of people in Wales opposed game bird shooting on public land, and that the industry had only itself to blame for this.
"It is clear Natural Resources Wales’ well-backed decision to stop leasing public land for the practice comes as a result of pheasant shooting losing public and political confidence because of its poor self-regulation, animal welfare and environmental credentials," he said.
"The game bird shooting industry should get to grips with the harsh reality behind this democratically-reached decision, clearly acknowledged by the British Game Alliance marketing board as the 'biggest point to influence' the Welsh Government decision to stop leasing sections of public land for pheasant shooting."
Mr Luffingham said it was a fallacy that long-established shoots would end as a result of the decision. He said the Maesmaw, Vaynor Park and Long Mountain Shoot, which previously used publicly owned land at Maesmawr Big Wood, Bank Wood and Cwmgwyn, were continuing to operate on private land, even selling shooting days for the 2019 season.
He added that NRW made it clear it would continue accepting applications for clay pigeon shooting on the land it managed. He said this would support many jobs in the rural economy, such as loaders, technicians, catering staff, garage owners and landowners, without the associated animal welfare and environmental damage.
