A bonus for the number of fox tails... back to the Middle Ages
One Voice had given a formal notice at the risk of being taken to court within five days the federation of the hunters of Charente-Maritime who had proposed bonuses to hunters for bringing back the most fox tails. This bonus has since been removed!
At the beginning of the week, we had learnt that the Federation of the hunters of Charente-Maritime proposed ” for those who deserved it” bonuses for hunters who brought back dozens of red fox tails. An incentive in a massive slaughter which is so scandalous if not illegal. One Voice gave a formal notice to this federation to remove its bonuses. If it had not been made within five days, we would have taken them to court. Thanks to the mobilization of the citizens in support of our involvement, we were proved right!
Some Charente-Maritime gun holders see themselves as bounty hunters, accumulating trophies to be crowned “best fox hunter of the year” (sic). For the “challenge” (sic)? 35 fox tails to be reimbursed for an already low-priced hunting licence? 500 euros in shopping vouchers to the one who collects the most? When it becomes a game to kill for rewards among the piles of corpses, then what does this have to do with nature or the ecology?
Une prime au mérite pour “éliminer massivement” les #renards roux?! Aimer la #chasse est vraiment synonyme de puits sans fond à idée pour tuer. On attaque en justice et on demande à @Min_Ecologie le retrait immédiat du #renardroux de la liste des nuisibles.https://t.co/ofdfRN6Uly
— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 22 octobre 2018
To mutilate an animal even for a post-mortem should question about the level of consciousness, the respect for living beings and of empathy within our society… Hunters portray their role as “regulator” to everything that is going, but exterminate the animals which effect this natural regulation, in total disrespect for the ecosystem. The carriers of rifles replace a thousand-year organisation of the Living and pass for those who are indispensable and continue to practise their dangerous and destructive hobby.
Et sous la pression publique, hop plus de prime à la queue de #renardroux! @FdeRugy @Min_Ecologie, pouvez-vous retirer le renard de la liste des « nuisibles » avec la même célérité? On ferait un grand bond en avant. #LaChasseUnProblemeMortel https://t.co/iwPsT9sikY
— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 24 octobre 2018
The motive for restocking hunted game is not legal even for killing red foxes, even if they compete with this deadly practice. In addition, this call for the bonus is not provided for in the texts, so it is not legal either! Hunters everywhere feel at home, pollute and make nature a dangerous place for the population, even things illegal are encouraged?
In addition to being sentient, and if for some, that was not enough in itself to respect them, red foxes are useful to the ecosystem. Their population is self-regulating and their presence avoids pesticide spraying in crops, they are the allies of farmers. They also limit the spread of Lyme disease to humans.
Yet more than half a million of them are killed in France each year. They pass continuously from the status of game to that of “Pest”, undergoing unearthing, hunting by dogs, hunted by shooting, trapping … The fox cubs are not spared either. We wrote to the Ministry of the Transition Ecological and Solidary to ask to have this small canine removed from the list of species “likely to cause damage” (previously a “Pest”) which makes it vulnerable to all persecutions, all year round without a truce.
These hunters fantasizing in Clint Eastwood would do better to put on their carpet slippers and to let nature bloom itself. The federation continues to incite its members “to regulate” foxes, even though there is no measure on the number of these animals who are essential to our ecosystem. Let’s hope that the ministry will act quickly and take steps to protect them as they should already be doing!
Please sign our petition to remove the red foxes from the list of susceptible species that cause damage.