Pardoned turtle doves!
For turtle doves, getting this decree suspended was a matter of the utmost urgency. Especially when you consider that their species is in serious danger of extinction (habitat loss, disappearance of insects, noise, poaching and… hunting)! What is the sense of priorities of this ministry, which is supposed to protect nature, and which already has its wrist slapped by the European Union for France’s failure to comply with the Birds Directive? Following our request and that of the LPO, the Council of State has now handed down its decision, and it’s in favor of the turtle doves, who have been saved from the slaughter!
A lobby so powerful that it even insinuates itself into prefectoral and ministerial decisions
On the day of the hearing, we learned that 68% of vertebrates had disappeared from the earth’s surface in less than 50 years… And yet, we were questioning the Council of State once again on an issue concerning the right or not to kill tens of thousands of these birds, peacefully living in our country.
Thousands of turtle doves are already dead, and data is still unreliable!
On the morning of September 10, 6,287 turtle doves had already died under this decree. By the end of the hearing, this figure, updated daily, had risen to 6,368! What is often overlooked, however, is the fact that these already astronomical figures fall far short of reality, by the very admission of those concerned, since they are declarative: hunters must enter their catches themselves into the “ChassAdapt” application. In other words, a computer revolution… without a foregone conclusion.
The Ministry’s decree made no sense, turtle doves are going to live!
Muriel Arnal, founding president of One Voice, declares:
“How could the State expose turtle doves, on the brink of extinction, to hunters who, let’s not forget, kill them for their leisure time? The data provided is unreliable, as we have demonstrated. Hunting – this hobby – only aggravates a very worrying situation for these birds, which belong to the common heritage of mankind. It’s high time we went beyond mentalities and changed actions! Today, the Council of State has ruled in our favor, which is a huge relief”.
Our team on site pointed out the highlights of the trial and the inconsistencies of the Ministry and transcribed them on our Twitter feed. After analyzing the evidence and the two contradictory opinions, the Council of State ruled against the public prosecutor, and therefore in favor of the turtle doves!
The fight for the birds goes on. The prefects and ministers would do well to remember this before issuing new decrees concerning hunting of any kind, whether by shooting, glue or digging out: we’ll be there. So much so, in fact, that we’ll be back at the Council of State for the hearing against traditional hunting (six decrees on bird trapping) on September 16, 2020 at 10am.