Earlier this year it was alleged that mandatory biosecurity regulations had been breached on Guy Ritchie’s Pheasant & Partridge shoot in Wiltshire.
Undercover investigators from the Green Britain Foundation had recorded footage on Ritchie’s Ashcombe Estate in November 2025 that appeared to show gamekeepers ignoring the new biosecurity rules that had been introduced to prevent the spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
The investigators said they had footage of grain feeders being emptied on to the ground and of food being emptied directly on to open ground, instead of being covered to reduce access to wild birds.
Investigators also claimed the footage showed no visible daily inspection or cleaning of feeding areas, which are all mandatory requirements.
They reported their findings to APHA (Animal & Plant Health Agency) who subsequently reported the alleged offences to Wiltshire County Council’s Trading Standards department, who are responsible for enforcement.
The Green Britain Foundation recently posted an update on the case, and reported that Wiltshire Trading Standards have now written to Ritchie with “written advice setting out the law”.
That ‘written advice’, or guidance, is the first step in enforcement action.
It’s pretty weak, given that breaches of the biosecurity regulations can constitute criminal offences under S73 of the Animal Health Act 1981 and non-compliance with a Section 23 declaration (the announcement on 20th August 2025 by the UK Chief Veterinary Officer of further disease control measures relating to HPAI at gamebird operations).
However, as we learned last year following similar biosecurity breaches uncovered by Wild Justice on a gamebird shoot on the Deben Estuary in Suffolk, Trading Standards always start off with a softly softly approach, as follows:
“…we would always look to engage with, and provide advice to, businesses and individuals engaged in potential breaches. Under our written Enforcement Policy, a staged approach to enforcement action is always considered. Where a business or person is willing to engage with us and bring matters into compliance, we would also look to progress this in a positive way without resorting to immediate formal action such as prosecution. In most cases this is sufficient”.
The biosecurity breaches in the Deben Estuary case were compounded by the fact that the gamebirds there had been unlawfully released (next to a Special Protection Area without a licence), but the shoot owner/manager still only received ‘verbal guidance’.
This year, Wild Justice has uncovered more cases of alleged unlawful gamebird releases on or next to Special Protection Areas across England….more news on those soon.
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