Hoghton Tower Duck Shooting 2010

Animal Welfare campaigners have criticised the decision to shoot up to 8,000 ducks on the Hoghton Tower estate despite Sir Bernard de Hoghton’s promise that it had stopped.

In April 2007, Sir Bernard approached protesters at Hoghton Tower and gave a written undertaking that "The [Hoghton Tower] syndicate will no longer be staging any of the four duck shoots." However the Northwest Animal Welfare group claim that thousands of ducks are being prepared for shooting in September.

A spokesperson for the Northwest Animal Welfare group said: “Visitors to Hoghton Tower have been deceived into believing duck shooting at Hoghton Tower has ended. During July and August we have filmed preparations for the duck shoots despite Sir Bernard’s word.

“In just a few days time thousand’s of Hoghton ducks will be terrified into flying so that they can be used as live targets by men who pay up to £1,000 a day to blast them from the sky for fun. Duck shooting isn’t a sport it’s the slaughter of timid birds many of whom will die a slow agonising death.”

In 2005 the North West Hunt Saboteurs Association published videos of a duck shoot at Hoghton Tower on YouTube. The video showed piles of shot but alive ducks. Protesters are promising to keep demonstrating at Hoghton Tower to raise awareness of duck and pheasant shooting.