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Organizations Criticize Use of Public Resources to Compensate for Slaughter of Birds Raised for Entertainment, While Calling for End to Release and More Government Prevention Against Future Outbreaks in Wales
The Welsh government has paid compensations totaling more than £700,000 since 2021 to game farms whose birds were slaughtered following avian flu infection. The data was obtained by animal advocacy groups through freedom of information requests and reignited the debate on the use of public resources to compensate businesses that raise birds for slaughter as daily entertainment.
Animal Aid, which leads a campaign on the issue, states that this type of expenditure is unjustifiable and helps sustain practices that, according to the organization, cause large-scale suffering and harm to the countryside.
Concentrated Compensations and Significant Slaughter Numbers
Between 2020 and 2025, five outbreaks of avian flu occurred in game farms in Wales, resulting in the slaughter of up to 52,409 pheasants and partridges.
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Despite there being fewer outbreaks than in England, the number of birds slaughtered in Welsh territory is significantly higher, mainly due to a single incident recorded in 2023.
Five game reserves in Wales received compensation. In July 2025, a freedom of information request submitted by the League Against Cruel Sports received a response stating that a total of £702,981.88 was paid in compensations.
Furthermore, a request made by Animal Aid in 2023 indicated that there was only one farm in Wales with an outbreak of avian influenza that year.
Bettws Hall and the 2023 Outbreak
According to the response received by the League Against Cruel Sports, the compensation paid to game farms in 2023 was £551,095.24.
Fiona Pereira, campaign manager at Animal Aid, stated that, based on her deductions, Bettws Hall farm in Powys, considered the largest in the country, was the only beneficiary.
She highlighted that the slaughter methods used were described as horrific.
The operation involved gassing units in containers and, when necessary, birds were humanely slaughtered individually by trained APHA (Animal Plant Health Agency) staff.
Gassing Methods and Animal Suffering
According to Defra, the whole house gassing (WHG) capacity based on carbon dioxide (CO2) has significantly increased and is currently the preferred method when it can be implemented effectively and rapidly.
However, depending on the gas used, this process can cause great suffering to the birds, who gasp, flap their wings, and try to escape.
Ms. Pereira emphasized that these risks reinforce the concerns expressed in her campaign against illegal hunting, titled “Killing Our Countryside,” launched in May this year.
Pressures for Change and Criticism of the Industry
In recent years, RSPB has called for an end to the release of birds for hunting, and its office in Wales has reiterated the risks in September.
The UK government also updated its guidelines and, in August, warned of the increased risk of avian flu in game birds, especially in coastal counties.
According to Fiona Pereira, the hunting industry raises and releases up to 60 million pheasants and partridges each year, which increases the likelihood of new outbreaks and more compensations paid by taxpayers.
Animal Aid’s campaign advocates for the government to take greater responsibility in prevention and address the impacts of this practice on wildlife and the countryside, a topic covered on pages 21 and 22 of the report “Killing Our Countryside.”
With information from Nation.
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