I WAS pleased to read Gillian Lock's letter in Freetime about shooting pheasants for pleasure.

I have always thought this was a nasty thing to do. Gamekeepers are employed by a syndicate of gents to carefully rear the birds and at the same time kill animals in the area that might damage the maximum number of young birds.

Then beaters are employed to flush them out to be shot. Some are wounded and die wretched deaths.

Penn resident

(Name and address supplied)