A lamb born in spring, once bouncing in the grass, ends up on your plate. The tender cut of venison, butchered while so young, ends up on your plate.

The young tender lampuka, caught while on its migration to breed in better waters, ends up on our plate. The pregnant sturgeon or beluga has its eggs removed, hence the mother fish dies simple for we humans to indulge in the thousands of would-be newborn fish ending up on your plate. Young gannets slaughtered in Scotland, by hitting them with batons, end up on plates.

So with the referendum day approaching and the stress levels rising for both sides, for and against, perhaps these examples will shed some light on the importance of sustaining the traditional hobbies of the minority.

Is it right to take away the turtle dove and quail for a 19 half-day season? It used to be an 83 full-day season but was shortened and accepted by the European Court of Justice. So is it right to try and take away a hobby which has been deemed legal?

This is a tradition in the heart of thousands like myself. It is a way of life. Those few early mornings change my soul, my mind, my attitude. It is what I live for.

Lots of animals are killed for human consumption which we could easily do without. Killing and eating is a human way of life, more than one can imagine, so, please, I ask, do not take away someone’s hobby.

Not agreeing with it does not mean it is wrong.