Killing at the cemetery: in Moselle, wild boars are slaughtered between gravestones

In December 2022, the Moselle Prefect authorised the 'testing’ of deer inside the Saint-Avold American cemetery. We therefore published an article, and the Prefecture guaranteed that these animals would be trapped and not killed. In the meantime, hunters were unleashed with the finesse that we know from them: “We would never kill animals in a cemetery!”, “these people know nothing”...

It is now clear that we were right to be concerned. On 17 August 2023, the Prefecture published a decree authorising ‘administrative shots’ on wild boars inside the cemetery. We are impatiently waiting for the reactions from those who oppose us. Perhaps we can explain to them that ‘administrative shots’ absolutely do not mean ‘killing’, but are simply about starting CERFA forms...

In any case, we are calling once again on the Prefecture: why kill animals while alternatives exist? Why not strengthen fences? Let’s understand: it is vital that the cemetery’s grass stays very green, and it is undoubtedly easier to clean up spots of blood than to put back a few clumps of earth dug up by wild boars.

No rational explanation, and more proof, if any is needed, that State services have definitively adopted hunters’ logic. No matter the situation, there is only one reaction: killing animals.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice