Monday 04 February 2019 | 11

The rescue of three surviving "decoy caller" ducks

The rescue of three surviving "decoy caller" ducks

Mis à jour le 14 February 2019

This Saturday, January 26th 2019, we rescued three ducks who were used as decoy callers, they were found in a frozen paddling pool. To obtain their release, we had to overcome many pitfalls. But now their ordeal is over!

Hr blog

Five abused ducks used to kill others

Last September, a whistle-blower reported the presence of ducks in a difficult situation in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. Our investigator was dispatched immediately, discovering this miserable place of life for these wild birds.

In a rudimentary enclosure four poor ducks were found, the corpse of a fifth was lying there, and a few pieces of bread in the mud. They had been torn from their life of freedom, caught probably by traps used for nutria, the hunter had intended them to be "decoys callers". In short, the life of these ducks would have been to call to their own kind, for the sole purpose of being killed. The most upsetting: a male duck, sat looking over the boards of its confine towards the pond where free ducks swim in the distance.

Our attempt to go through the justice system to save them

We immediately filed a complaint. As always, these cases take several months to go through. As part of the process, the gendarme went to the site and our investigator was interviewed. And ... the complaint has been dismissed. The only thing raised by our investigation was that the ducks were not legally ringed. We know how difficult hunting is on wildlife, especially in France, where almost anything is allowed. Despite the ranking of this complaint, we still managed to get the gendarmes to save these ducks.

The rescue of Marguerite, Lilas, and Pivoine

When we arrived at the spot-on Saturday January 26th2019, the enclosure was fully flooded. The poor birds had no access to land. They can but swim only in icy water.

« Mallards, of course, need to swim. But in nature, no mallard spends all its time in the water. They also need to rest on dry land. To keep a mallard in a small aviary by depriving it not only of being able to fly but also of landing on the ground is obvious abuse. »
Pierre Rigaux, Naturalist

There are only three now, a small female died because of the terrible conditions ... We then immediately took them to the Wildlife Conservation Centre "Volée de Piafs", where from our support they were examined and benefited from all the necessary attention. They are very thin and need to regain their strength.

« It is quite possible, of course, that weight loss is directly linked to the obligation for the duck to remain in the water permanently in the winter cold, because mallards lose more weight in winter when they are cold.... a normal phenomenon but not when weighing just 650 g! »
Pierre Rigaux, Naturalist

Most of the time, hunters trim the wings of ducks used as decoy callers. Fortunately, this is not the case with Marguerite, Lilas, and Pivoine, so we will have the opportunity to release them in an area free of hunting in a short time! And for these three there is only freedom, real freedom.  

For a radical reform of the hunt, please sign our petition!

Julia Mothé
Hr blog
#Chasse
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Isa | Friday 08 February 2019

Encore une victoire ! Merci à vous! Quel plaisir, il n'y a pas de petite victoire dans ce moment brutal et irrespectueux !
Heureusement qu'il u=y a des personnes formidables comme vous. Merci encore.

Pour les chiens de chasse, il faut les signaler à la cellule Zoé ou à une SPA !
Pas de crainte à avoir. Allez-y...

Piercha | Friday 08 February 2019

Merci à vous une fois de plus d'avoir sauvé ces canards dont se servent les chasseurs pour en tuer d'avantage
La cruauté de chasseurs n'a pas de limites il faut continuer à dénoncer tout le mal qu'ils propagent et génèrent sur la faune et les combattre sans relâche !

Karine et Philippe | Friday 08 February 2019

Monsieur Emmanuel MACRON soit disant soucieux de la cause animale ne s'est pas fait attendre pour baisser le coût du permis de chasse, dans le seul but de plaire à ses amis lobbystes de la chasse. Monsieur le Ministre de l'écologie devrait, selon son rôle, privilégier les animaux plutôt que les tirs des chasseurs viandards, car cela ne fait pas partie de la biodiversité. Heureusement, que ces volatiles ont pu être sauvés. Le rôle d'un Procureur est d'assumer ses responsabilités pour lesquelles il est rémunéré en appliquant la loi et non de condamner soit par des amendes ou contraventions ou classer sans suite. Car il a été prouvé, en Grève, en Ukraine, aux Etats-Unis que ce que l'on fait comme tortures aux animaux on le fait aux humains. Il y un lien entre les deux qui n'a jamais été pris en considération et pourtant ce n'était pas faute de les dénoncer par beaucoup d'associations de la protection animale ou des internautes. Si on les avait prises au sérieux, on aurait pu ainsi éviter beaucoup de morts inutiles tant parmi les animaux que les humains. Une citation de Pythagore : "Tant que les hommes massacreront les bêtes, ils s'entretueront. Celui qui sème le meurtre et la douleur ne peut, en effet, récolter la joie et l'amour.

pouguy | Monday 04 February 2019

cette chasse a toujours existée, mais cette pratique est honteuse, il existe des canards en plastique et mettre des vivants est honteux et irrespectueux envers l'animal