IN her letter asking people to eat pheasant, "Time to get into game", Postbag, September 20, Debbie Collins omitted some important facts. It is easy to see why.

On many farms where pheasants are reared, the laying hens are kept in intensive conditions.

The pheasant chicks are kept in sheds, often packed in their thousands. The stress they endure can cause aggressive behaviour such as feather pecking and cannibalism.

In order to control this, birds are fitted with masks or bits – devices which prevent their beaks from closing properly.

In an effort to protect pheasants from natural predators, gamekeepers snare, trap, poison and bludgeon tens of thousands of animals. Some of these will be protected species such as badgers, otters and birds of prey. Domestic pets may suffer the same fate too.

There is no mandatory training required for using firearms anywhere in the UK and licences are often granted to inexperienced and young people.

This means that pheasants are often not killed outright. Instead, they are wounded by novice shooters.

Also of great concern is the fact that thousands of tonnes of lead shot are discharged over rural Britain. Lead shot is harmful to any wildlife that preys on shot birds. It can also leave a poisonous residue in the soil, lakes and rivers.

Debbie Collins also failed to mention that far from ending up on the dinner table, vast numbers of dead birds are dumped as waste product, posing environmental risks.

More on the cruel sport of shooting pheasants and other "game" birds can be found on the League Against Cruel Sports' website – http://www.league.uk.com.

Ms Y Nicola Address withheld on request