

All over France, hunters are terrorising animals and humans with complete impunity
Hunters shooting near homes, trespassing on private land, risking injuring or even killing humans and domestic animals, in addition to the 45 million of their wild counterparts killed each year? This is the reality faced by many citizens living in the countryside. Where they should be able to enjoy peace and nature, they suffer the violence of trigger-happy hunters and the indifference of the authorities. One Voice calls for an end to these shameful privileges.
Horses under pressure in the Jura mountains
Imagine: you have a private forest in the Jura region, where domestic and wild animals live peacefully side by side, enclosed by a fence and signs clearly saying “No hunting” and “Do not approach the horses”. The property is adjacent to that of your family, who own pastures where horses graze. This is the living environment of the president of the association 4 Pattes et Nature, and it could be idyllic… if bullets weren’t constantly whizzing through the air.
For years, hunters have regularly trespassed on both properties, allowing their dogs to roam the pastures where horses and foals graze, not to mention shooting indiscriminately, including in the direction of homes and the local road. It is a real nightmare that would drive anyone crazy with worry… but the authorities are turning a blind eye. Numerous letters sent to the town council, the community of municipalities, the Departmental Directorate for Territories (DDT) and the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) have gone unanswered. Despite several complaints filed with the gendarmerie, nothing has been done to ensure the safety of residents and their animals.
A no-hunting zone targeted in the Gers
In the Gers region, hunts at the authorities’ initiative are on the increase in a sanctuary where hunting is prohibited. In a partly wooded district of 405 hectares, they have clearly found nothing better to do than to target this 17-hectare property on the pretext that it is a “hotbed” for wild boar, although the latter are merely passing through… The officially appointed huntmasters give the owner of the land no chance to defend himself against this relentless persecution. Each time, the orders for the hunts are published at the last minute, preventing any appeal… when they are not simply non-existent.
Night-time poaching in the Alpes-Maritimes region
In Breil-sur-Roya, at night, when hunting is prohibited, poachers resort to every possible stratagem to make use of their weapons. Often accompanied by their dogs, they do not hesitate to force their way onto private land by opening gates and cutting electric fencing wire. For nine years, one resident has been firmly opposed to hunting on her property. In retaliation, her plots of land are targeted by individuals who relentlessly hunt deer, wild boar, foxes and badgers that venture onto her property. As the material damage mounts, she feels completely powerless in the face of the authorities’ inaction which is giving free rein to a minority who are taking over every square inch of nature.
Collateral victims
In Roquefort in the Lot-et-Garonne region, a tragedy was narrowly averted on 25 September. In the middle of a hunt, a bullet lodged in the wall of the house of a childminder who was looking after three young children. The presence of hunters in the area was known, so the children had been forced to remain indoors… Adapting to the murderous impulses of armed individuals and still being in danger in their own homes is what citizens are reduced to in the name of a minority’s leisure activity.
In another municipality in the region, another person lives in fear for their life and that of their horses, having suffered intrusions and damage during the hunting season for five long years…
These fears are far from unfounded, and we have been denouncing their causes for years. In 2024-2025, eleven people died as a result of hunting, more than double the number in previous years. Victims of traps such as Collier Rouge, Cooky and Tigrou, or stray bullets such as Koukou, Memphis and Connemara, dogs, cats and horses are also among the dead and injured. Whether on foot or in 4x4s, during a hunt, a battue or a completely illegal outing, the slaughter of animals must stop.
We call on the prefectures of Jura, Gers, Lot-et-Garonne and Alpes-Maritimes, as well as the relevant town councils, to immediately withdraw the licence of the hunter involved in the shootings in Roquefort and to impose a total and permanent ban on hunting in residential areas. To put an end to these situations of terror, whose sole purpose is to slaughter for pure pleasure, sign our petition calling for a radical reform of hunting!