PRINCE OF PAIN .sx IN THE adjacent blank space we intended to reproduce a photograph of Prince Charles ill-treating his polo pony .sx The campaigning Sunday Mirror had shown the full colour picture to the League Against Cruel Sports and RSPCA before publishing it under the headline 'Rein of Terror' .sx It showed Prince Charles , teeth gritted , brutally wrenching the head of the pony back over its shoulders as he tried to force the animal to come to a shuddering halt and change direction to chase a polo ball .sx The pony was lathered with white sweat and its eyes were rolling as the Prince tried to use its sensitive mouth like a stock-car racing driver uses a steering wheel .sx We felt that in view of Prince Charles' love of killing wild animals and birds , it was right to further expose the fact that his callousness extends towards domestic animals too .sx We contacted the Sunday Mirror who passed us on to the free-lance photographer who captured the Prince's shame .sx He reluctantly declined to give us permission to reproduce the picture and of course we must respect his wishes .sx But it was clear from his telephone conversation that the Sunday Mirror's exposure of the royal cruelty had seriously rebounded on him and that any further exposure of the picture might have an affect sic !sx on his professional career .sx In short , although he did not use such words , he had been 'leaned on .sx ' .sx Other animal experts were shocked by the picture - one vet making the understatement , " There appears to be excessive use of the reins .sx " The Sunday Mirror reported the following week that thousands of readers had responded to a phone-in poll - voting by 12 to 1 in favour of the Prince giving up the 'sport' .sx Following the story many Sunday Mirror readers contacted the League to protest at the Prince's abuse of his pony - one experienced horse-woman writing , " If I rode in a gag , standing martingale , cavesson noseband , drop noseband and used the horse's mouth as a handbrake , I would hate to imagine what other riders would think .sx " She went on to state that she had watched polo and that " all too often spur marks are in evidence after a match " and that it was about time the sport was investigated in detail .sx It is clear that the photographer merely captured a moment of abuse which many polo ponies suffer .sx It is also clear that despite the fact that the royal family have not constitutional rights , someone at the palace still wields enough clout to put the frighteners on any individual who crosses them !sx .sx League calls for the abolition of falconry .sx Expert's report highlights abuses .sx THE LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS has called for the ancient bloodsport of falconry to be outlawed following publication of a report commissioned by the League and written by former Senior Investigations Officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds , Peter Robinson .sx The twenty-five page report reveals that falconry is Britain's fastest growing bloodsport .sx Although not all keepers of birds of prey fly their birds to kill other birds and animals , there are , according to Government figures , some 10,000 people registered as keeping 13,000 daylight hunting ( diurnal ) birds of prey .sx This figure does not include owls and vultures .sx Peter Robinson points out that falconry is probably illegal under the 1979 European Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds which prohibits keeping and trading in wild birds and which gives no express authority for participation in falconry .sx The Directive does not allow derogations by EC member states but in such cases imposes strict rules such as insisting on reports of numbers of birds of prey involved in trade .sx According to the report the UK Government is failing to abide by such rules .sx The report also highlights the fact that the popularity and lack of Government control of falconry and the trade in birds , is responsible for the continuing theft of eggs and chicks from the nests of British rare birds of prey ( raptors ) and the smuggling , both in and out of the country , of wild-bred birds of prey .sx The author claims that some of these stolen or smuggled birds are finding their way into the DoE's Bird of Prey Registration Scheme .sx A major area of concern is the Department of the Environment's handling of the bird registration procedure .sx Some licences are given without the birds bearing identification markers whilst most birds of prey breeders receive their markers for their birds through the post without any DoE inspection .sx Despite a general prohibition on the sale of wild birds , a minimum of 3,735 live birds of prey and owls were sold openly between the years 1980 and 1987 at a combined value of almost pounds700,000 .sx This was made possible by open general licences as well as some specific licences , issued by the DoE .sx Peter Robinson is highly critical of the Department of the Environment's administration of the Bird of Prey Registration Scheme - the first of his thirteen 'Recommendations' being a call for " an immediate full and public review " of the DoE's handling of the Scheme .sx Another worrying aspect of keeping falcons is the welfare of captive birds , transported in vans around the country , to be tethered to posts all day at country shows and game fairs .sx Peter Robinson says that many members of the public are offended by such sights .sx He says that the birds are often ill at ease in the proximity of crowds of people .sx He reports that at some flying displays at country shows the birds attempt to fly from the handler's fist , and hang upside down by the jesses ( leather thongs ) trashing their wings wildly .sx The report also tells of cases of cruelty where illegally held birds have been found restrained inside socks , bound with tape , shut in dark cupboards , poorly fed , suffering from wounds and even dying .sx Peter Robinson's report also exposes the little known fact , that the Government issues permits to falconers to use their birds to kill otherwise totally protected birds such as thrushes , blackbirds , meadow pipits , redwings and even skylarks - all in the name of sport .sx In 1988 for instance 46 licences were granted for the killing of 1,773 protected birds from the following species ; Blackbird , Song Trush , Black-headed Gull , Fieldfare , Redwing , Meadow Pipit , Mistle Trush and Skylark .sx The falconers are required to send back returns on how many actual birds they have killed but there is no way of checking the veracity of the figures returned by falconers .sx Licences were issued for the killing with falcons of 1,773 protected birds in the single year of 1988 , and yet the falconers themselves claimed they only killed 1,290 such birds in four years !sx .sx As well as British and European Members of Parliament , the League has sent the Report to the European Commission itself requesting an investigation and if necessary as prosecution of the UK over its failure to comply with the EC Birds Directive .sx WEST SUSSEX BANS WILDFOWLING .sx by Simon Wild , .sx Bognor and Chichester Action for Animals .sx CONSERVATIVE CONTROLLED West Sussex County Council has banned wildfowling at Pagham Habour , a 700 acre local nature reserve in West Sussex .sx In one of the closest votes ever , councillors voted by 30 to 28 not to renew the wildfowlers' lease , which was the successful culmination of a four year campaign by Bognor and Chichester Action for Animals to stop the shooting .sx The decision is a big blow for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation which campaigned hard to assist the 60 member Pagham and West Sussex Wildfowling and Conservation Association , who have shot over the harbour since their association was formed in 1951 .sx B.A.S.C. magazine Shooting Times described the decision as , " Casting a black shadow over the future of wildfowling in Britain .sx " And at the B.A.S.C. wildfowling conference held in Chester in August , the 'key issue' was the " public image of wildfowling in the light of West Sussex County Council's decision to ban wildfowling at Pagham Harbour .sx " .sx The move to get wildfowling banned began in Oct .sx 87 , and was spurred on by Gosport borough council's decision in 1986 not to renew a shooting lease wildfowlers had at the Wildgrounds nature reserve in Gosport , Hants .sx We began with a leaflet and petition campaign in advance of the wildfowlers' lease , which was up for renewal in June 88 and every effort was made to get maximum publicity ; a Shooting Times columnist stated at the time , " On the whole the press relished the opportunity to publicize opposition to shooting .sx " .sx We are aware that wildfowl are being poisoned nationally as a result of wildfowlers' spent shot , and the League Against Cruel Sports kindly gave financial assistance to have the mud at Pagham Habour analysed for spent shot by Portsmouth Polytechnic .sx However , difficulties in knowing where the shot was landing proved a problem as the scientists were unsure of where best to take intensive core samples ; and the random samples they did take failed to show sufficient spent shot for us to make use of the results .sx More intensive sampling was recommended , but we felt the very high cost of this did not merit further sampling .sx Our petition and letter writing campaign soon had an effect , and the county council's Director of Property made a recommendation that was accepted by the nature reserve's advisory committee that , " Shooting should be allowed for three years with no commitment to a further renewal .sx " Ostensibly this was to allow councillors to react to the outcome of the shooting disturbance project being coordinated by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust which was due out in 1991 ; although it was clear the writing was on the wall for wildfowlers should councillors accept the recommendations .sx The B.A.S.C. mounted a counter campaign opposing the recommendations and shooting people sent in over 140 letters to the Coast and Countryside Committee begging councillors not to reduce the lease .sx We intensified our campaign and engaged actress Alexandre Bastedo to hand over our 5300 signature petitions on the steps of county hall and in front of press and T.V. This extra effort must have had an effect because the vote to reduce the lease was carried on the casting vote of the Chairman of the Committee , who had previously been strongly defending wildfowling .sx During the last three years we changed our public campaign image so that we were known as the Campaign for a Real Nature Reserve .sx We tailor made leaflets for the local council elections and engaged in petition collecting in areas close to Pagham Habour , as well as a letter writing campaign to the press and county council .sx Early in our campaign we had received assistance from one or two prominent members of an important voluntary group called the Friends of Pagham Harbour , although as a group the 'Friends' had been neutral on the wildfowling issue .sx However this year they held a referendum on wildfowling and came out strongly against the shooting ; they were also able to show they could warden the harbour against poaching should wildfowling be banned .sx This strengthened our hand considerably and the harbour's advisory committee recommended wildfowling be banned .sx This was accepted by 7 votes to 4 by the coast and countryside committee of the county council .sx Normally the committee's decision would be rubber stamped by the full council , but they voted by 27 to 25 to refer the matter back to the committee with a recommendation to renew the lease .sx The whole thing was becoming as one county councillor described it :sx " The most controversial issue to come before the county council in recent years .sx " B.B.C. Countryfile devoted half their programme to the attempts to ban wildfowling at Pagham Harbour , and whether this had any effect or not I don't know , but committee councillors when reconsidering , strengthened their position by voting 12 to 4 against renewing the lease .sx This then went back to the full council who voted 30 to 28 against , finally banning wildfowling .sx Nearly 5000 ducks of nine different species and a few dozen geese have been shot at Pagham Harbour in the last ten years alone .sx