Cramped into tiny cages, battling horrible injuries and traumatised all for the purpose of being shot.
This is the life more than 50million pheasants and partridges endure in the UK every year as they are reared in battery cages before being shot for sport.
But Manchester’s MPs are giving the birds a voice and have come out in support of a leading animal charity’s call for a total ban on cages for game birds.
Animal Aid, the UK’s largest animal rights charity, launched their campaign last month after exposing the terrible breeding conditions in an undercover investigation.
MM contacted MPs across the city to seek their opinion on the subject, most of whom have come together and are pioneering the nationwide movement to make political change.
TRAPPED: Pheasants and partridges are bred in small battery cages
Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, said most members of the public would be shocked to understand that game birds ‘are not wild birds killed for the sport, they’re industrially produced on an intensive scale’.
“It costs 13-14 times more to produce a pheasant and get that pheasant airborne to be shot than that dead animal’s carcass will fetch from a dealer, so in other words, it’s about producing animals for feathered targets,” he told MM.
Lucy Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central, Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman, Labour MP for Gorton, John Leech, Liberal Democrat MP for Withington and Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton have all given their support to ban the cages.
However, Mike Kane, Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East has not.
Mr Kane, who is an owner of poultry himself, refused to comment or give his support to the campaign, despite being contacted by MM and the charity’s founder.
A spokesman for the Wythenshawe and Sale East politician said he was willing to meet constituents to talk about the issue.
DEATH ROW: The game birds are bred for the purpose of ‘sport’
A YouGov opinion poll commissioned by Animal Aid back in June found that 77% of the British public opposed the use of cages to breed partridges and pheasants for sport shooting.
And Mr Tyler believes now is a crucial time for the charity.
“Our political push to re-gather support for reintroducing the ban is very much underway. It’s moving into an intense, serious phase so it is topical,” he said.
“I commend Manchester MPs for exhibiting common sense and humanity, and you’d think there would be more of it about from our elected representatives.
“As we go about making our case, Manchester MPs, who have lined up behind our call for a ban, have set a very good example, and we’re absolutely delighted.”
LEFT FOR DEAD: Some of the birds don’t even make it out of the cages alive
In the run up to the election, the pressure is on for the campaign to gain the support of MPs across the country so it might be made into law after a new government is formed.
Section Four of the 2006 Animal Welfare Act determines an offence is committed when an animal is subjected to ‘unnecessary suffering’ and, under Section Nine, when a person responsible for an animal fails in his or her duty of care.
The charity’s undercover report in 2004 saw a trained investigator visit five establishments using the inhumane cages for breeding the game birds.
A covert video released earlier this year shows the cramped living conditions, the head injuries and the dead animals.
“The partridge cage is actually a tiny metal box, it’s unbelievable that this is legal, frankly. They have no room. This is for so called ‘sport’, this is an industry that produces birds to be shot for pleasure, it’s absolutely uncivilised,” added Mr Tyler.
“We’re going to push on, because with our undercover filming, and campaigning, and production of reports, we reached a position [before the last election] where the Labour government introduced a code of practice that, in effect, outlawed the cages.
“And then they lost the election, and the code was immediately repealed by the new coalition government, led by James Paice, who perversely, alongside his job as Animal Welfare Minister, held the role of Hunting and Shooting Minister.
“So he introduced a new code which made the cages acceptable if they were ‘enriched’. But we’ve filmed enriched cages and you can see the footage, it’s an absolute sick joke. They’re bereft of any comfort, and the birds still look utterly miserable and vulnerable.”
NO ESCAPE: Birds flying into the wire mesh often injure their heads known as ‘scalping’
Caged pheasants suffer high stress rates, loss of feathers and back and head wounds.
Many lunge repeatedly at their cage roofs in an attempt to escape, causing injury to their head known as ‘scalping’.
Labour MP for Manchester Central Ms Powell, said: “All animals should be treated with care and respect and they should not suffer unnecessarily or be kept in inappropriate conditions.”
She made reference to the same Labour code of practice, which ‘would have led to the removal of battery cages and the introduction of minimum cage sizes in order to ensure the welfare of game birds’.
“The regulations were consulted on widely and they were endorsed by animal welfare groups,” she said.
“I am disappointed, therefore, that the current government decided not to introduce this code and instead introduced less strict regulations, which allow the use of battery cages to continue.”
For concerned members of the public who want to get involved with the campaign, Mr Tyler has said the power to change practice still lies with MPs.
“Most of us get cynical about politicians, we know that, but it is still the forum through which law is passed,” he concluded.
“With a new code under the Animal Welfare Act, these cages can be banned, and it is in the hands of MPs.
“All of us feel helpless at times in the face of a world that dismays us, but here is something that can be done to remove a gross injustice.”
A template letter including contact details of your nearest MP can be found at voteforanimals.org.uk.
Images courtesy of Animal Aid, with thanks
