The government refuses to make hunting safe: we are launching a legal attack on them

The government refuses to make hunting safe: we are launching a legal attack on them
10.10.2023
France
The government refuses to make hunting safe: we are launching a legal attack on them
Wildlife

Every year, 45 million animals fall victim to hunters’ bullets, as well as the human victims. Since 2003, more than 400 people have lost their lives, to which are also added hundreds who have been injured. Three months ago, we formally requested that the Minister for the Ecological Transition acts. Despite our repeated alerts, authorities continue to do nothing and have completely ignored our request. Because this moral ‘hobby’ more than ever represents a threat for animals and humans, along with victims’ families, we are launching a legal attack on the State. Our plea has been filed before the State Council.

The government and hunting: lies and inaction

A few months ago, the State Secretary for Ecology announced with his hand on his heart that from then on, hunting under the influence of alcohol would be banned, following the limits for road safety. All of this was nothing but a big joke: in the end, it would only be being ‘visibly’ drunk that would be banned! In other words, as long as they are not staggering around, hunters can continue to shoot wildly in forests… Under these conditions, it is difficult to be reassured.

Faced with these small measures that are inadequate for the scale of the problem, two months ago, we formally requested that the Minister for the Ecological Transition take the necessary measures to limit the risk of accidents. It is no great surprise that he did not even bother to respond to our letter. Yet more proof of the contempt that he brings to all those who simply want to benefit from nature without massacring animals, and to the 87% of French people who believe that hunting poses safety issues.

The countryside does not belong to hunters and must no longer be regarded as their playing field. Animals have a right to live here without fear and families have the right to benefit from it without risks. We have therefore filed a plea at the State Council against this culpable silence, and so that effective measures will finally be taken.

Semi-automatic weapons and expansive bullets

The report that we ordered from an expert in weaponry and ballistics, which was used in developing our plea, is final: today, hunters have an almost military arsenal at their disposal to practise their ‘hobby’.

In 2013, the government legalised ‘30-06 Springfield’ ammunition, previously reserved for military use, which can be loaded into rifles with a range of more than 3 kilometres. In addition to these bullets is ‘expansive’ ammunition, which rips the animal open causing maximum suffering and damage. And what about sighting instruments and other gadgets that can be purchased on the internet without ever having been regulated by a professional…?

A more than incomplete regulation

Armed to the teeth, hunters are not subjected to any sight or hearing tests, beyond a ‘medical certificate’ at the time of obtaining a licence. In 2022, hunting accidents were caused by shooters over 80 years old. When it comes to young people, who can hunt between 15 and 16 years old without having passed the farce that is a hunting licence, they are subject to absolutely no tests.

Why are they so stubborn in refusing any medical examinations? This stubbornness is all the more incomprehensible given that those practising sports shooting have to have a check by a doctor every year…

Our concrete and effective solutions to limit the risks!

The reforms to be implemented urgently are therefore clearly identified. We are solemnly asking the government in particular for:

• a ban on hunting on Sundays, bank holidays, and during the school holidays;
• a strict ban on hunting being carried out under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
• to reinforce checks on hunters’ physical fitness;
• to reinforce the hunting licence exam;
• to ban the use of certain weapons and ammunition in hunting;
• to make checks by an expert on sighting instruments obligatory.

To push the State to act, beyond legal actions, we need you more than ever! Sign our petition to demand a radical reform on hunting!

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

One Voice volunteers rallying to defend wolves

One Voice volunteers rallying to defend wolves
09.10.2023
France
One Voice volunteers rallying to defend wolves
Wildlife

One Voice is organising militant action in several towns in France in the month of October 2023 to inform the public about wolves: their sensitivity and intelligence, their organisation centred around a strong family unit, and their vulnerability.

Because the official protection that they should receive is violently abused by French authorities who order exceptional shootings (which could even resemble a planned extermination as the quotas increase from year to year, and questions relating to the counting of wolves are subject to controversy) and barely concealed poaching.

On a European level, their protection is now also called into question. One Voice has been opposing this at administrative tribunals, at the State Council, and also at legal tribunals for years. Likewise, we are constantly raising awareness among the public and public decision-makers, but the task is proving difficult.

The reason: irrational fears and a collective imagination that reinforces these fears, based on fantasies and an inability to think calmly about our coexistence with nature and animals (its inhabitants) other than from a perspective of power and by invading. Intensive farming on the mountainside no longer has the idealised image that people want to portray to us, of lone shepherdesses accompanying a few sheep to high altitude pastures.

Wild animals are disappearing from our planet, those who live in France and Europe are no exception, and the crisis that we meet on a climatic level should not solely be thought about with regard to a transition to clean energy. It also has a lot to do with our way of understanding others, including animals, of which wolves are an integral part. Will systematic killing continue to be the chosen option?

One Voice activists will therefore be working closely among the public to raise awareness of wolves, these wild and free cousins of dogs, and getting them to sign our petition to end their persecution.

Organised events:

• Saturday 7 October:

Nice (06)

In Nice specifically (which is starting the ball rolling for these events), in addition to a magnificent banner showing a photograph of a wolf, we are planning two marquees, including a classic information stand and another focused in particular on the ‘youth’ with cuddly toys and information appropriate for children.

A street interview will also take place, around our classic ‘audience participation event’, with signs and wolf masks, as well as an awareness speech. We will play a forest soundtrack. Our activists will meet the public.

• Sunday 8 October:

Bordeaux (33)

• Saturday 14 October:

Amiens (80)
Digne-les-Bains (04)
Montpellier (34)
Limoges (87)
Metz (57)
Aix-en-Provence (13)
Troyes (10)
Flers (14)

• Sunday 15 October:

Rouen (76)

• Saturday 21 October:

Nantes (44)
Bar-Le-Duc (55)

• Saturday 28 October:

Strasbourg (67)

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Galliformes: hundreds of lives hanging on court decisions

Galliformes: hundreds of lives hanging on court decisions
07.10.2023
France
Galliformes: hundreds of lives hanging on court decisions
Wildlife

The hunting season for mountain birds is at its peak: in the Alps and Pyrenees, for a few days, shooters relentlessly hunt down grey partridges, ptarmigans, and even black grouse. Whilst we have just learnt that our request has been rejected by the Pau Administrative Tribunal (AT) and that we are still awaiting decisions for Haute-Savoie and Isère, new hearings have been set: 9 October at 9:15am for Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes (at the Marseille AT), 10 October at 10am for Savoie (at the Grenoble AT, alongside ASPAS with whom we have worked together), and 11 October at 10am for Ariège (at the Toulouse AT).

Today, the life of a mountain bird is a real obstacle course. They have to fight against global warming, the urbanisation of natural areas, intensive herding… and of course hunters’ bullets. So many scourges for these summit inhabitants who are dying in silence and whose populations are decreasing day by day.

However, each of these mountain birds is simply looking to live in peace. Because this right is constantly denied them and because the State and hunters set upon them, One Voice has been rallying for several years and condemns this type of hunting which is harmful for all animals and mountain environments.

For grey and rock partridges, black grouse, rock ptarmigans, and hazel grouse, we have initiated around ten proceedings. During the hearings, prefects and hunters were content with repeating their usual talking points: it does not matter that guns separate families and that these species are ‘near-threatened’; as long as they are not extinct, they should be able to continue killing them without having to worry!

These arguments are, unfortunately, enough to convince the Pau administrative judge. With no explanation, the Tribunal rejected our plea, even though we were proven right in this department last year.

Department after department, we are giving a voice to each bird, because, threatened or not, none of them deserve to be slaughtered for the pleasure of a few people. The hearings continue; in the days to come, we will be in Marseille, Toulouse, and once again in Grenoble, where we will relentlessly defend these animals that are in danger of dying.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

The unbearable persecution of mountain Galliformes meets our resistance!

The unbearable persecution of mountain Galliformes meets our resistance!
29.09.2023
France
The unbearable persecution of mountain Galliformes meets our resistance!
Wildlife

Between mid-September and the beginning of October in the mountainous areas of France, mountain Galliformes have been in hunters’ and prefectures’ line of fire. The hunting period for these six emblematic species from the Alps and Pyrenees is open from three weeks to two months. Because this hobby that some people practise will never justify the killing hundreds of animals, we are asking for an urgent suspension of the prefectural decrees.Four emergency interim hearings are set in the coming days in Grenoble and Pau.

Birds wiped out, but hunting them is still authorised

In the heights of the Alps, a family of birds with unique plumage, changing from mottled brown in summer to white in winter, walk around peacefully. The parents live together for several months and are accompanied by their young. All is calm when, suddenly, a gunshot breaks the silence. The snow is stained with blood; those that survive take flight and a shooter comes to collect the remains of their prey. Rock ptarmigans, like all mountain Galliformes, are killed one by one.

Prefects try to hide behind calculations, caps, and other quotas to justify the unjustifiable: continuing with relentless hunting for the sole pleasure of an ultra-minority and far too influential group. But behind each bird killed is a flock, meaning that the whole species is threatened. Slaughtering is everywhere: no more black grouse in the Ardennes or Franche-Comté, no more grouse in Languedoc-Roussillon, and a situation of near extinction in Alsace and Auvergne where populations of rock partridges are increasingly confined to the tops of the mountain ranges…

Pleas in the face of decrees that cannot be defended

In Isère, the Prefect has authorised each hunter to kill two rock ptarmigans and an unlimited number of hazel grouse. That is hundreds, or even thousands, of birds that could therefore be massacred with the State’s approval. In short, it is like Christmas has come early for hunters.

In Haute-Savoie, rock partridges and black grouse are entering a period of many dangers. For the black grouse, the Prefect has not even bothered to set a tally: it was the president of the departmental federation himself who determined the number of individuals to be killed! Once again, animals are getting ready to pay with their lives for the uncontrolled power of this lobby and the wrongful abstention of the State.

And these plans are repeated in all Alpine and Pyrenean departments… By acting in this way, prefects sign decrees to kill thousands of animals who simply want to live peacefully in the mountain ranges that are their last refuges. We will be present at the Grenoble Administrative Tribunal on 2 October at 10:30am (Isère), on 5 October at 1:30pm (Haute-Savoie), and on 10 October at 10am (Savoie) for them, and at the Pau Administrative Tribunal on 4 October at 3pm (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Never mind the government’s opinion, One Voice continues its fight for wolves

Never mind the government’s opinion, One Voice continues its fight for wolves
29.09.2023
France
Never mind the government’s opinion, One Voice continues its fight for wolves
Wildlife

A few days ago, the government presented the key features of the future national action wolf plan 2024-2029 and expressed its barely concealed desire to continue pursuing the eradication of wolves in France. Simplifying the procurement of shots, using night-vision goggles more widely… the objective is clearly to kill the largest number of wolves possible. However, massacring them with the support of the law is not even enough for those who are ready to do whatever it takes to eliminate them, including poaching. One Voice will be present at the Annecy Legal Tribunal on 2 October for one of their victims. Pursued by a reckless driver trying to purposefully run it over, this wolf narrowly escaped a collision and certain death.

Since 1 January, 135 of them have been killed with the State’s approval, and six have also been victims of poaching. When they manage to avoid being shot, they are subjected to “accidental captures”, poisoning, or road accidents.

A defendant who incriminates himself…

In March 2023, one of them was almost the victim of an illegal act in Haute-Savoie. An unfortunate new circumstance: a vehicle tried to hit it. Although he was simply trying to cross a road, a wolf was pursued by a driver deliberately changing direction and lanes to run him over. Proud of himself, the driver filmed his actions to brag about it to his friends, undermining his defense in denying the facts. It was this video that allowed the French Office for Biodiversity to identify the accused.

Although, very thankfully, the animal narrowly escaped this attempt to kill him, One Voice has filed proceedings to get justice for him, to recognise the persecution of wolves in France and demand that the accused is sentenced. The accused was in fact given a punishment of up to three years imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros for “attempting to destroy a protected species”.

Poaching wolves is an open secret

How many other wolves have actually been purposefully run over, but their deaths have been ruled as accidental due to lack of proof? Last year, we filed a complaint against several farming lobbies inviting people to kill wolves with no qualms completely illegally, and getting rid of the bodies to hide any evidence, hiding behind balaclavas and weapons.

Until wolves have peace, One Voice will defend their right to live without risking being killed, legally or otherwise, and will fight so that they can finally receive an effective protection system and for shots to definitively be banned. Help us to push this fight forward: sign our petition to stop the persecution of wolves in France.

*addition of the mention of the fine on October 6, 2023

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Foxes, rooks, crows: endless persecution in Nièvre and Jura

Foxes, rooks, crows: endless persecution in Nièvre and Jura
21.09.2023
France
Foxes, rooks, crows: endless persecution in Nièvre and Jura
Wildlife

In Nièvre and Jura, the Prefects are targeting foxes, rooks, and black crows, which are already classified as ‘likely to cause damage’. These animals can be killed wherever and whenever! As if this is not enough, the Prefects in these two departments have implemented administrative hunts to massacre more and more. Faced with this incomprehensible stubbornness, we are defending these unloved animals tooth and nail in court. We are now awaiting the hearing dates of the Dijon Administrative Tribunal and the Nancy Administrative Appeals Court.

The news is very gloomy for ‘species likely to cause damage’. The release of the ministerial decree of 3 August 2023 approved an extension of the right to unlimited killing of foxes, weasels, martens, stone martens, Eurasian jays, Eurasian magpies, common starlings, black crows, and rooks. We have attacked this shameful list while hoping that the State Council will rule in favour of these animals that are still wrongly considered by some as ‘pests’. And, as the persecution against these unloved animals has no limit, Prefects do not hesitate to go further by ordering administrative hunts, which authorise the killing of these animals all year round, wherever and whenever! Examples of this are in Nièvre and Jura.

In Nièvre, killing foxes… to maintain a monopoly on the massacre of farmed pheasants and partridges!

In this department, foxes are used as targets by the Prefect. In the summer of 2022, he passed several decrees authorising administrative hunts in 22 towns for a duration of two months, including the use of night shooting. A true nightmare for these animals who are already hunted with guns and dug out of their burrows as part of the sadistic practice that is underground hunting with hounds.

The reason for these killings? To ensure that the foxes do not touch the pheasants and partridges released by hunters who aim to kill them later! Hunters want to eliminate all competition, and especially that of other animals… And it doesn’t matter that foxes are crop aids and also help to limit the spread of Lyme disease, and that they are fully capable of regulating their own population by themselves. Yet more proof of the total absurdity of these methods that only aim to protect the interests of an all too powerful lobby.

In Jura, the Tribunal proved us right, but the Prefect persists and has appealed!

In Jura, on 23 June, the Tribunal cancelled a decision authorising a large-scale administrative hunt on black crows and rooks. Hardly any consolation for the hundreds of birds killed completely illegally. But the administration resolutely does not want them to have any respite. For a few days, we have known that the Prefect has decided to contest this decision.

This stubbornness has one objective: to allow decrees to be passed authorising animals to be hunted without even having to organise a public consultation! In short, organising methodical killing without anyone being able to voice their opposition. The Prefect can count on us to defend them all with all we have in front of the administrative court of appeal.

At this stage, it is no longer even about the hunts, but quite simply about the persecution of these species that are accused of all evils. We will not let ourselves be deterred by the Prefectures’ and hunters’ untruthful arguments, who still believe that yet more of these animals should be killed.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice