14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, is scaling up efforts to follow the example illustrated by Diana, the Princess of Hearts, rather than resembling to Diana the Huntress.
The dutches has decided to forgo the cruel Christmas tradition posed by the traditional Boxing Day Royal pheasant hunt organized at Sandringham on December 26th, PETA informs.
Her decision was influenced by a letter send by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, recommending her to follow the same path adopted by the Princess of Hearts and spare the beautiful creatures that are shot every year.
The letter has revealed a few appalling details. It seems that those birds that are only injured face death anyway. If a bullet doesn't do the trick, their necks are wrung or they are just simply left to bleed to death on the field.
However, Princess Diana didn't want her name to be associated with such cruel practices and has indicated throughout time that she did not consider this kind of activity a sport and preferred to stay far away from the field and neglect the tradition.
Kate Middleton is considered a role model and a source of inspiration for millions of people all across the globe.
It is likely that her gesture will capture the attention of a large segment of public and help change mentalities, since widespread peasant hunts are not only a tradition preserved by the royal family.
They are often organized by common people, who consider them “a time-honored outdoor tradition,” and a “family activity,” according to Pheasants Forever.
At the same time, while hoping for governmental ban aiming to put an end to such barbaric practices, a national campaign group, Animal Aid has launched a shocking report highlighting the horrors triggered by mass production of pheasants supported for “sport shooting.”
“Every year in Britain, around 35 million pheasants are mass-produced like commercial poultry so that they can be shot down by wealthy 'guns', who commonly pay £1,000 (€1,201/$1,567per day for the 'privilege',” reveals the report.
Moreover, it seems that some of these birds specially raised for hunting competitions often have ends of their beaks burnt or sliced off to reduce the number of cases of “bird-to-bird aggressions.”