Administrative fox beat hunts in the Indre-et-Loire department: One Voice attacks 12 prefectoral decrees
Between June 7 and July 9, 2024, the Prefect of Indre-et-Loire published 12 prefectoral decrees authorizing administrative fox beat hunts… several days after the operations. One Voice strongly condemns the harassment suffered by these animals and the illegal strategies employed by the State to prevent us from taking legal action. We are taking the decrees to the Orléans administrative court.
Killing foxes is one of the favorite activities of hunters, as they can indulge in it all year round and by any means, even the most cruel. And, as always, they can count on the State’s support to facilitate their hobby. Every year, they slaughter hundreds of thousands of foxes. And since rifle shooting is a bit monotonous, they also kill them as part of underground hunting, a horror we documented as part of our undercover investigation. As for the classification of foxes as ‘species likely to cause damage’ – which we attacked – it allows landowners to have them killed everywhere and (almost) all the time.
But of course, all this is not enough for them: when all these possibilities are closed, there’s always the administrative beat hunts. After the Nièvre department, where we won our case in court, the prefect of Indre-et-Loire adopted no less than 12 decrees between June and July. While these decisions should be backed up by precise, detailed reasons, there’s nothing like that here. All in all, the State representative merely states that foxes are causing damage… As always, no data, no figures.
When the State hinders the action of associations
The scandal doesn’t stop there. As is often the case with administrative beat hunts, these orders were systematically published after the animals had been killed. It’s a strategy we’re all familiar with, designed to prevent any urgent challenge before the courts. So the animals have already been slaughtered by the time we can read about the orders. No harm seen, no harm done ! It’s high time we put a stop to these outrageous strategies.
As well as being valuable in their own right, foxes play a crucial role in the ecosystem, regulating populations of rodents and other small animals and limiting the spread of certain diseases. Their elimination jeopardizes fragile balances and has serious consequences for agriculture itself. Nothing will ever justify their being subjected to the vindictiveness of hunters.
For all these reasons, we are challenging the decisions of the Indre-et-Loire prefect. To speak up for foxes against those who want to eradicate them, sign our petitions to remove them from the ‘species likely to cause damage’ list and for a radical reform of hunting!