IF this Government really cared about the animal kingdom, it would put a complete ban on battery production, not standing by while new forms of factory farming are introduced.

What a sick and cruel society we see before us - even wild game birds are now being intensively bred.

Not only are thousands of pheasants and partridges being shot every year in Britain for "sport", but an increasing number, in the words of Animal Aid, "come from eggs laid by breeding birds who are confined for their whole lives in the kind of battery cages being phased out across Europe for laying hens, because they are so cruel".

The final straw for me is that masks are placed over the game birds' faces, often by being driven through their nasal septums (something that would be illegal if done to poultry) to stop them pecking each other to death.

Also, many evidently suffer appalling head injuries from battering themselves against their wire prisons in vain attempts to escape.

To an animal lover like myself, it's beyond belief how our politicians can allow this vile practice to happen.

Aled Jones, Bridlington, East Yorkshire.