The book also provides commentary on the many wildlife crime investigations at Edradynate Estate during Campbell’s employment, mostly centred on the illegal poisoning and shooting of protected birds of prey, for which nobody was ever convicted.
There’ll be an official book launch at 7pm on Friday 11 September 2026 at Camserney Hall, Aberfeldy, PH15 2JL where the two co-authors will be in conversation with Jim Mackintosh. Entry is free – more details here.
There’ll be another event at 7pm on Thursday 24 September 2026 at Pittenweem New Town Hall, Session Street, KY10 2QL – more details here.
Prelude to Murder is available to buy from the publisher (Thirsty Books) or a signed copy direct from Alan Stewart.
A fascinating two-part documentary about Campbell’s trial and conviction is available on BBC iPlayer for the next 11 months. Murder Trial, Death of a Dog Walker can be watched here.
Further to yesterday’s blog, Defra’s Call for Evidence on all aspects of gamebird rearing, releasing and shooting is now open, and will close at 23.59hrs on 1st November 2026.
The Call for Evidence covers Red Grouse, Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge and Mallard.
Pheasant (photo by Ronnie Gilbert)
The Call for Evidence is open to anybody, and Defra has stated that it would particularly welcome responses from Gamebird producers, shoot operators, land managers, Veterinary and animal health experts, Environmental, conservation and animal welfare organisations, Local communities and land users, Academics and researchers, and Public bodies and delivery partners.
The Call for Evidence relates to England (because gamebird policy is devolved in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), but Defra has stated that evidence gathered from outside of England will still be welcome if it is considered relevant.
Defra is separately commissioning an independent assessment of the economic costs/benefits of the gamebird sector so evidence of this nature will not be considered in this particular exercise.
The evidence collected will be used to inform any future decisions related to Government policy on gamebirds, which, if significant, will undoubtedly then be subject to a public consultation.
Everyone should buckle in because this will be a long and drawn-out process (remember it took the Scottish Government almost five years to introduce licensing for grouse shooting, from the time the decision was made to the time the legislation was implemented, and there are still aspects of the legislation that have not yet been put in place).
Nevertheless, it’s a very important first step and those who have spent years, if not decades, campaigning for scrutiny, have finally battered down a door that has been firmly locked and bolted for far too long.
You can read the Call for Evidence document below, and it’s well worth having a look at the extent of the questions. Some of them are specifically aimed at those directly involved with gamebird rearing, release and shooting, but there are plenty of opportunities for others to have their say.
For example, take a look at Question 29: ‘Are there any additional positive or negative impacts [of gamebird release and shooting], not covered above, for example recreational benefits?‘
This question offers a fantastic opportunity for those who are not involved in gamebird releasing and shooting but who still have to suffer the consequences.
For example, restricted access for walkers, disturbance to the quiet enjoyment of people’s gardens, pets being caught, injured or killed in traps associated with the local shoot, personal harassment and intimidation from gamekeepers and shoot owners, including criminal damage to vehicles and property and dead animals dumped in gardens, pets poisoned and killed etc etc.
Quite a few communities have spoken out about these and other issues (e.g. see here, here, here, here and here), and raptor persecution associated with land managed for gamebird shooting has been raised repeatedly as a major concern for residents and visitors to several National Parks (e.g. see here, here, here).
There is plenty of time before the Call for Evidence closes, so there’s no need to rush in to a response straight away. I’m sure there will be guidance for responding offered by several organisations in due course, but for now, please spend some thinking about what evidence you could provide. It’s really important that this opportunity is not missed.
Further to Wednesday’s blog about an imminent call for evidence by Defra about the welfare aspects of gamebird breeding, and confusion about whether this would also include gamebird releases and licences to shoot, there is now clarification that the evidence review will consider ALL aspects of gamebird rearing, release and shooting.
Defra Minister Sue Hayman (Baroness Hayman of Ullock, Parliamentary Under-Secretary) issued a written statement about it yesterday, as follows:
GAMEBIRD CALL FOR EVIDENCE
As set out in the Land Use Framework and the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, the Government committed to strengthening the evidence base on gamebird rearing, release and shooting in England.
I am today announcing that a Call for Evidence will launch on 4 September 2026 as the next step in delivering that commitment.
Gamebird rearing, release and shooting are established activities within rural land use and management. They can contribute to rural economies and land management, but their environmental, animal health, animal welfare and wider impacts are not yet fully understood. The Call for Evidence will gather information and evidence to improve understanding of both the positive and negative impacts associated with these activities.
The Call for Evidence will consider the rearing of gamebirds, the release of reared birds from captivity, associated shooting and land management activities, and impacts at local, regional and national level. It will seek evidence on biodiversity, protected sites and habitats, biosecurity and disease, bird of prey crime, animal welfare, use of natural resources, and other relevant environmental or social impacts.
Evidence gathered through this exercise will be carefully reviewed, including by independent external reviewers for information on release and shooting. This will support Defra’s understanding of these activities and their impacts and inform any future policy development. No decisions have been taken at this stage on whether to introduce any changes, and any future proposals would be subject to public consultation.
The Call for Evidence will be published on GOV.UK and will be open for responses until 1 November 2026.
ENDS
At the time of writing, the Call for Evidence has not yet been published but is expected later today, so the terms of reference are not yet clear. Defra is hosting a stakeholder webinar this morning to provide further details for those of us likely to participate, and also information about the response process.
I’ll blog more about this when things are clearer.
Update 5 September 2026: Defra’s Call for Evidence on all aspects of gamebird rearing, releasing and shooting is now open – this is your opportunity to be heard (here)
The UK Government is poised to open a public consultation on the welfare implications of the mass breeding of gamebirds, according to an article published by The Guardian this afternoon (see here).
This consultation has been anticipated, after the Labour Government included it in its Animal Welfare Strategy which was published in December 2025 (see here).
What isn’t clear, to me anyway, is whether this consultation also includes evidence-gathering for the option of licensing gamebird shooting and releases, which was promised separately in the Government’s Land Use Framework for England, published in March this year (see here).
Today’s article in The Guardian jumps seamlessly between the two issues and gives the impression of a single consultation covering both issues, rather than two separate consultations.
I couldn’t find any notice of a consultation on Defra’s website, so I guess the announcement is imminent and we’ll find out the extent of it when it’s actually published.
I was invited to provide a comment for The Guardian‘s piece today. I told the journalist that yes, there is plenty of evidence documenting the failure of animal welfare considerations for the mass breeding and rearing of gamebirds and it is definitely worthy of attention for the benefit of those individual birds. However, I also pointed out that addressing those welfare concerns was a bit like treating the symptoms but not the cause.
Putting an end to the rearing and annual release in to the countryside of an estimated 60 million non-native game birds for shooting should be the government’s focus. If they stopped that, then the associated welfare issues, as well as the many environmental issues and wildlife crimes associated with the gamebird shooting industry would also be sorted.
UPDATE 4 September 2026: Defra confirms its Call for Evidence will encompass all aspects of gamebird rearing, release and shooting (here)
Update 5 September 2026: Defra’s Call for Evidence on all aspects of gamebird rearing, releasing and shooting is now open – this is your opportunity to be heard (here)
Today is the official opening day of the Red-legged Partridge (RLP) shooting season in England, Scotland and Wales.
An estimated 10 million RLPs are released into the countryside every year, for shooting. They join an estimated 50 million released Pheasants – although the shooting season for Pheasants doesn’t start until 1 October.
The non-native Red-legged Partridge (photo by Ronnie Gilbert)
The precise number of these non-native Pheasants and RLPs released each year isn’t known – research published recently by Guy Shrubsole demonstrated that shooting estates in England are failing to declare millions of released birds, and research published earlier this year by Wild Justice demonstrated that some shoots are releasing birds unlawfully, under the radar of the authorities.
Someone asked me this morning whether there was any evidence that shoots were releasing fewer birds this year, as a consequence of last year’s Bird Flu outbreak.
Well, according to the shooting press, apparently the opposite is true, at least with regard to RLPs.
Three shooting publications are reporting that game dealers have sent a warning to shoot managers this year, saying that there is a ‘a glut’ of RLPs being released this year; so many in fact that the game dealing trade (the people who process and sell on the shot birds) are concerned that the number of RLPs “go beyond what the trade can handle“.
The estimated number of predicted RLP releases seems to originate from a ‘market briefing note’ recently issued by Guns on Pegs, an online market place for selling shoot days. I haven’t been able to find a copy of that note so can only rely on what the shooting press is saying about the content.
Leon Challis-Davies of the game meat organisation Eat Wild said: “To put it bluntly, shoots have stocked more partridge than usual and there just isn’t the capacity to cater for the volumes we’re expecting unless we all get our act together soon“.
Tristan Kirk of Lincolnshire Game said: “I encourage every estate that supplies partridges to the food industry to speak to their preferred processors as soon as possible, with accurate information about the numbers expected and dates. This allows us to have a forecast for sales or storage requirements until a sale can be found. This is crucial and should be normal practice“.
There’s also commentary about the poor condition of some gamebirds received by dealers, attributed to ‘bad handling’ on the shoot, which means that those gamebirds cannot then be processed for human consumption.
“Shoot managers must ensure compliance with relevant game meat and food hygiene regulations“
and
“Shoot managers must ensure they have appropriate arrangements in place for the sale or consumption of the anticipated bag in advance of all shoot days“. [Emphasis is mine].
Stand by for piles of shot and dumped or fly-tipped RLPs across the UK this season….
Now, where’s that evidence-gathering exercise on gamebird release and shooting, promised by Defra?
