FROM PROTECT THE WILD ON INDUSTRIAL SLAUGHTER OF GAME BIRDS BRED TO BE KILLED

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more 22,000 birds gassed alive: you weren’t meant to see this PROTECT THE WILD NOV 2 READ IN APP For the first time ever in the UK, footage of a game bird flu cull has been made public. What it shows is shocking. Earlier this year, anonymous activists handed us footage of a cull of around 22,000 breeding game birds at Westfield Game Farm near Pickering, North Yorkshire. It was the farm’s second bird flu cull in two years. Why this is such a big deal This is monumental because game bird culls often happen behind closed doors. Until now, the public has never seen how they are carried out. This footage changes that. It shows the whole process, from catching to gassing to disposal. And it raises three serious concerns: the suffering of thousands of animals, biosecurity failures that put wild birds at risk, and the cost to you, the taxpayer. Become a Game Changer Why did it happen? From December 2025 to April 2026, an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) was in force. Every farmed bird had to be housed, or at least netted, to keep it away from wild birds. The pens at Westfield appeared to lack netting. These rules exist to stop exactly this kind of outbreak. But rules mean nothing if nobody enforces them. 22,000 lives, gassed and dumped These birds were bred for one thing: to be shot for sport, but they never even got that far. In the footage panicked birds were chased and thrown, packed into crates and driven into gas chambers. They were gassed with argon, and their bodies were tipped into lorry sized skips like rubbish. Every one of them a life. Every one of them wasted and thrown away by the thousand. Biosecurity concerns Most worryingly, a cull is meant to contain a disease. Yet with the pens apparently unnetted, birds were filmed flying away mid-catch. Even vets and workers were recorded admitting they could not tell how many had escaped. Any one of those birds could have carried avian influenza into the wild. The footage also captured workers repeatedly breaking personal protective equipment (PPE) rules. Some unzipped their suits inside the infected zone. Others wore no protection at all. Every breach is another route for avian influenza to spread. Become a Game Changer Who pays? You do. What could be worse? well, we pay for it… When a game farm’s flock is culled for bird flu, the taxpayer compensates the farmer. Using APHA’s own rate, we estimate the payout at around £620,000. That is for a farm that had been through exactly the same thing just 11 months earlier. We asked APHA, through a Freedom of Information request, what this cull cost. Sadly they refused to tell us and an independent review backed that refusal. So we still do not know how many birds escaped, what was done to make the cull effective (or if it was), or what the public paid for a cull that following the housing rules might have prevented. So, to sum it up: the public pays, but the public is not allowed to know what for or how much! A pattern, not a one-off This is a farm with history. In 2011, its owner and his company were each fined £20,000 for releasing thousands of pheasants onto a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), damaging a protected conservation site. In 2014, the RSPB found five illegal pole traps set around the farm. Two employees were cautioned. The owner was convicted of permitting their use, though that conviction was overturned on appeal. Now, two bird flu culls in two years. And once again, the rules appear to have been bent. Given that record, none of this comes as a surprise. More to come This is just the overview. Over the coming weeks, we will dig into every angle of this story: the animal suffering, the money the taxpayer pays, and the biosecurity failures that appear to have been frequent on this farm. We want this to be a game changer. In every sense. To drag what happens on these farms into the light, and to stop it ever happening again. These birds deserved better. Join the movement. Become a Game Changer. This is exactly what your monthly donations are helping make possible. Undercover investigators gathering evidence. Hundreds of hours of footage being reviewed. Investigations developed into stories that reach millions of people through national television. More investigations. More national exposure. More pressure on the shooting industry. And ultimately, a much stronger campaign to bring bird shooting for sport to an end. If you want to help us expose what else this industry is hiding, please become a Game Changer today. There are 830 Game Changers at the time of sending this email out. Will you become one of the first 1,000? Become a Game Changer SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start your Substack

FROM PROTECT THE WILD. SPEND ANOTHER POUND TO SEE HOW WELL IT CAN BE SPENT

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Quite possibly the best £1 you will ever spend.. ROBERT POWNALL NOV 1 READ IN APP It’s the 1st of November! £1 donation day is upon us! This time I thought we’d change it up a bit. As you’ve (hopefully) seen, we recently launched Protect the Wild Scotland, our new campaigning arm to fight even harder for Scottish wildlife. So I figured for this month’s email we’d put the focus on this exciting new chapter for Protect the Wild. Every pound donated from this email will go straight towards our work in Scotland as we endeavour to be a loud, unapologetic force for animals. We’ve got huge aspirations. The victory in stopping the longest surviving seabird hunt in the country has shown what is possible when we have dedicated people working obsessively to bring about an end goal. And we want to do the same on so many issues impacting Scottish wildlife. Whether that’s challenging the horrendous salmon farming industry, dealing with the flawed ban on hunting or tackling the Scottish shooting industry head on. We will never compromise or sit on the fence. Over the next 12 months we will prove to you that we deserve your support and we will fight for wildlife across all fronts, from all angles, until we topple industries and cruel pastimes one by one. Even just writing this email gives me goosebumps thinking about what is possible. If this sounds like the sort of thing you’d want to throw your support behind, we’d love to have you with us. Donate £1 Ps. Feeling even more fired up to back us from the very beginning? You can become a founding supporter of Protect the Wild Scotland and we’ll send you a limited edition badge as a thank you :) SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start your Substack

BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL

View email in browser Hi John, We hope to see many of you at our upcoming State of the World’s Birds webinar so we can share more about the difference your support is helping to make. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy catching up on some wonderful news for birds and nature this month. Want to inspire others? Click here to forward these highlights. More than 1.25 million voices for nature! Around 30 campaigners stand in a paved plaza holding banners in front of a large glass and brick office building. A red banner shows the number 1,254,722 and a white one reads “Hands Off Nature.” A banner reading “Democracy” hangs on the building behind them. So many of you were among the 1.25 million people who raised their voices for nature through #HandsOffNature. Now those voices have been taken directly to the European Commission, sending a powerful message that the laws protecting Europe’s birds, wildlife and water must remain strong. We'll keep you updated but until then, thank you! The worlds first unified birding checklist has been updated A small dark House swift with a white rump patch in flight against a soft green background, its long, swept-back wings held out and one wing raised. Following its launch in 2025 as a consensus-formed taxonomy for every species of bird found on planet Earth, the AviList checklist has now been released in a revised 2026 version. This is the first in what is set to be an annual update each October. See the headline changes New digital series spotlights global effort to protect migratory birds A camera monitor on a film rig shows four large, long-necked birds flying in a loose line across a peach-colored sunset sky. Behind the monitor, a green field stretches to a glowing horizon. If you haven't already seen, we have launched a digital film series, in collaboration with Content With Purpose, that brings together scientists, conservationists, communities, organisations and local voices to reveal the global effort to protect migratory birds. Watch the journeys that connect our world Supporter photo spotlight A small Aruban burrowing owl with bright yellow eyes stands upright on a pale rock, facing the camera. Its plumage is brown and cream with spotted markings, and white rocks and a blurred pale ground surround it A big thank you to David E. Fitzgibbons for sharing this wonderful photo of an Aruban burrowing owl. In David’s words “Endemic to the island of Aruba, the Aruban Burrowing Owl, is beloved by the islanders and nicknamed the ‘Shoco’.” The Shoco appears on the 50 Florin banknote, as well as several national stamps. David adds “In 2013 the population was estimated at 200 breeding pairs. The decline of the Shoco is due to the development on the island, nest destruction, and predation by the boa constrictor,” a non-native species. “While exploring the island I found myself in an abandoned construction site watching some Black Bellied Whistling Ducks frolic in a large puddle. It was then I saw the Shoco leave his ground nest and alight to some rocks.” For your chance to be featured, send us your best shots and a short paragraph about it to: howtohelp@birdlife.org. Get your photography featured Online talk and Q&A: State of the World's Birds RSVP today Thank you for your support, Mairianne Walker | BirdLife International Supporter Team From £5 you can be part of our global community helping to bring birds back from the brink. Check out our memberships. 10% off on a BirdLife Bundle! Get everything you need to take out birding. All purchases can help birds and nature thrive. Need a Will? Estate planning doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re offering a free, easy-to-use resource to help. Get started! LinkedIn Instagram Facebook YouTube Website You are receiving this email because you opted-in to hear from BirdLife International BirdLife International is a registered charity 1042125 Address: BirdLife International, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK For full details on how we collect, use and store your personal information see our Privacy Policy. update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Copyright © 2026, All rights reserved.

ROM PROTECT THE WILD. GAME CHANGERS WITH MONTHLY DONATIONS

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more We’ve done it again. This time, on Channel 4 News. PROTECT THE WILD OCT 31 READ IN APP For the second time in less than six months, we’ve blown the lid off the shooting industry on national television. First it was ITV, and last night it was Channel 4 News. And I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of what we’re achieving. Back in May, ITV News broadcast our undercover investigation exposing the horrific reality of how millions of pheasants and partridges are intensively farmed across Britain, just so people can blast them out of the sky for fun. This time, I headed to the Channel 4 studios to sit down with Alex Thomson and expose the shooting industry’s shocking disregard for wildlife, the countryside and the environment. Once again, we’re bringing what this industry would rather keep hidden into the national spotlight. Dead birds and plastic waste dumped into enormous piles and set on fire. A baby pheasant found ALIVE in a pile waiting to be burned. Rotting carcasses left for wild animals to scavenge. And 22,000 birds gassed following a bird flu outbreak, with our footage raising serious questions about biosecurity and the potential risks to wild birds. Become a Game Changer Two major investigations. Two of the biggest news broadcasters in Britain. Less than six months apart. For a relatively small organisation taking on an industry with enormous financial resources, powerful lobbying groups and political connections, this is a bloody big achievement. And there’s something else that makes this so important. We’re just days away from the end of DEFRA’s call for evidence into the impacts of game-bird shooting. At the very moment the government is examining this industry, we’re helping expose its practices to a national audience. And we’re far from finished. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing several further investigations, going into much greater detail about what our cameras uncovered. This is just the beginning. When we launched our campaign to End Bird Shooting, we set ourselves an ambitious target of reaching 1,000 Game Changers (people donating monthly to fund this work) by the end of 2026. Well, after last night, I want us to aim even higher. Let’s reach 1,000 Game Changers by the end of October. Become a Game Changer Because this is exactly what your monthly donations are helping make possible. Undercover investigators gathering evidence. Hundreds of hours of footage being reviewed. Investigations developed into stories that reach millions of people through national television. You’re seeing exactly where your money goes. And you’re seeing the difference it’s making. Imagine what we could achieve with 1,000 people funding this work every single month. More investigations. More national exposure. More pressure on the shooting industry. And ultimately, a much stronger campaign to bring bird shooting for sport to an end. I’m incredibly proud of everyone who’s helped make this possible. But believe me, we’re only just getting started. If you want to help us expose what else this industry is hiding, please become a Game Changer today. There are 777 Game Changers at the time of sending this email out. Will you become one of the first 1,000? Become a Game Changer SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start your Substack

FROM PROTECT THE WILD AND A MAIN NEWS CHANNEL AGAIN ON INDUSTRIAL GAME BIRD REARING

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more We’ve done it again. This time, on Channel 4 News. PROTECT THE WILD OCT 31 READ IN APP For the second time in less than six months, we’ve blown the lid off the shooting industry on national television. First it was ITV, and last night it was Channel 4 News. And I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of what we’re achieving. Back in May, ITV News broadcast our undercover investigation exposing the horrific reality of how millions of pheasants and partridges are intensively farmed across Britain, just so people can blast them out of the sky for fun. This time, I headed to the Channel 4 studios to sit down with Alex Thomson and expose the shooting industry’s shocking disregard for wildlife, the countryside and the environment. Once again, we’re bringing what this industry would rather keep hidden into the national spotlight. Dead birds and plastic waste dumped into enormous piles and set on fire. A baby pheasant found ALIVE in a pile waiting to be burned. Rotting carcasses left for wild animals to scavenge. And 22,000 birds gassed following a bird flu outbreak, with our footage raising serious questions about biosecurity and the potential risks to wild birds. Become a Game Changer Two major investigations. Two of the biggest news broadcasters in Britain. Less than six months apart. For a relatively small organisation taking on an industry with enormous financial resources, powerful lobbying groups and political connections, this is a bloody big achievement. And there’s something else that makes this so important. We’re just days away from the end of DEFRA’s call for evidence into the impacts of game-bird shooting. At the very moment the government is examining this industry, we’re helping expose its practices to a national audience. And we’re far from finished. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be releasing several further investigations, going into much greater detail about what our cameras uncovered. This is just the beginning. When we launched our campaign to End Bird Shooting, we set ourselves an ambitious target of reaching 1,000 Game Changers (people donating monthly to fund this work) by the end of 2026. Well, after last night, I want us to aim even higher. Let’s reach 1,000 Game Changers by the end of October. Become a Game Changer Because this is exactly what your monthly donations are helping make possible. Undercover investigators gathering evidence. Hundreds of hours of footage being reviewed. Investigations developed into stories that reach millions of people through national television. You’re seeing exactly where your money goes. And you’re seeing the difference it’s making. Imagine what we could achieve with 1,000 people funding this work every single month. More investigations. More national exposure. More pressure on the shooting industry. And ultimately, a much stronger campaign to bring bird shooting for sport to an end. I’m incredibly proud of everyone who’s helped make this possible. But believe me, we’re only just getting started. If you want to help us expose what else this industry is hiding, please become a Game Changer today. There are 777 Game Changers at the time of sending this email out. Will you become one of the first 1,000? Become a Game Changer SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start your Substack

THE QUORN HUNT TRAINING TO KILL

View this email in your browser Hi, Supporter QUORN HUNT TRAINING HOUNDS TO KILL: WRITE TO YOUR MP The Hunt Saboteurs Association is asking our supporters to contact their MPs following the release of horrific drone footage involving the Quorn Hunt in Leicestershire. Members of the Quorn Hunt use the fox’s body to encourage hounds to tear it apart. Image: Northants Hunt Saboteurs On Friday 16 October 2026, Northants Hunt Saboteurs filmed an incident near Kirby Bellars in which a fox was killed by hounds during a Quorn Hunt cubbing meet. Hounds converge on the fox as hunt staff look on. Image: Northants Hunt Saboteurs The footage shows hounds seizing and tearing at the fox while hunt staff intervene to repeatedly encourage the hounds to attack. A hunting horn can be seen being blown over the hounds to reinforce the association between the horn call and the kill! Take action: Contact your MP Don’t let this disturbing footage go unnoticed. Write to your MP, ask them to watch the video and to support robust legislation to strengthen the Hunting Act. Template letter below: Organised Hunts hunting as usual – Famous Quorn Hunt filmed killing a fox Dear [MP] The 1st November will see the official start of the foxhunting season, but hunts have been out since August training their hounds to hunt and kill. This is called autumn hunting by them and cub hunting by the rest of us. This is illustrated by the film we obtained taken from a drone showing the Quorn Hunt killing a fox. This is ‘trail hunting’ in its bloody reality, and it happened just a few days ago, on the eve of the BHSA’s National Trail Hunting Day. The full video can be viewed here: https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/smokescreen-saturday-exposed/ Cub hunting is not some isolated activity. It is the preparation for the hunting season ahead. Throughout the autumn, young hounds are taught what to chase, what to kill and how to respond to the huntsman’s commands. What they learn – or fail to learn – during these crucial weeks sets the tone for the entire season. This is what makes the Quorn Hunt footage so damning. It shows hounds being deliberately encouraged to seize and tear at a fox, with hunt staff repeatedly intervening to reinforce that behaviour. As the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) and the Countryside Alliance prepared to showcase so-called 'trail hunting' on National Trail Hunting Day - aka Smokescreen Saturday - the Quorn Hunt provided a horrifying glimpse of the reality behind the myth of trail laying. The BHSA and defenders of so-called trail hunting want the public to believe the same hounds will spend the season following scent trails. Yet here they are, being trained on foxes, and of course, killing to the delight of the hunters. The footage strikes at the very heart of the trail hunting smokescreen. We need parliament to finish the consultation and push through a real hunting ban in the next parliament term as promised in the manifesto. Regards [Name] [Address] Find contact details for your MP here Join the Hunt Saboteurs Association! Support our vital work by becoming a member. Join The HSA Spread the word! Please share our news Share via email Facebook icon Instagram icon Twitter icon Logo Copyright (C) 2026 Hunt Saboteurs Association. All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from Hunt Saboteurs Association. Our mailing address is: BM HSA, London, WC1N 3XX, U.K. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

FROM PROTECT THE WILD. THE WELSH SENEDD AND A PROPOSED BADGER CULL

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more All out on 10 November for badgers! Come to the demonstration at the Senedd in Cardiff to demand NO BADGER CULL. ELIZA EGRET OCT 27 READ IN APP With a badger cull in Cymru looking increasingly likely, your voice is needed in Cardiff on Tuesday, 10 November. This is YOUR chance to take a stand. Join Protect the Wild alongside the Badger Trust, local groups and individuals, both outside and inside the Senedd, to demand no badger cull. The message is simple, Wales has shown another way; it should not repeat England’s failed and costly badger cull, but focus on real solutions. The schedule for the day is as follows: 11am - 2.30pm: Peaceful demonstration outside the Senedd. Let’s show that people across Wales want to protect wildlife and support genuine - solutions to bovine TB. 👉 12pm - 1.30pm: Talks inside the Senedd media room. The Badger Trust will host an event for MSs, stakeholders, supporters and the media, setting out why Wales should protect its science-led, cull-free approach to bovine TB. Guest speakers include: Dr Dick Sibley BVSc Hon FRCVS: Cattle vet with five decades’ experience in herd health and infectious disease, including frontline work on bovine TB. Rosie Wood, Chair of Trustees, Badger Trust. In England, a quarter of a million badgers were culled over thirteen years, only for Keir Starmer’s Labour government to declare the killing “ineffective”. Wales, on the other hand, has consistently proven that it doesn’t need a badger cull to fight bovine TB. Instead of following England’s failed path of mass slaughter, it must double down on smarter cattle testing, better biosecurity, and upcoming cow vaccines. A cull would only waste public money and distract from the scientific solutions that actually stop disease transmission. On top of this, Wales is already one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Its wildlife faces intense pressure from habitat loss, pollution, and climate change, and it cannot afford to lose any more. The Badger Trust says: “Badgers are protected native wildlife. They belong in Wales and should be part of nature’s recovery, not its decline.” Take action with these easy steps! Join the demonstration outside the Senedd on Tuesday 10 November. Sign the Senedd petition here, demanding no badger cull! Contact your MS, asking them to attend the Senedd event and urging them to keep Wales cull-free. For more information, visit the Badger Trust’s Keep Cymru Cull Free page here. SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start your Substack