Victory! Badgers in Jura will be not killed in Spring nor next Summer!
The provision prolonging the badger-hunting season in the department of Jura as from May 2021 has just been removed from the prefectoral decree as a result of our petition!
The provision for an additional period for hunting badgers has just been removed from the decree published by the prefecture of Jura following our complaint to the Administrative Court in Besançon! It is a great victory, which has come in good time to prevent badgers being slaughtered!
Photo: Nathalie Hausser CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The additional period for hunting badgers allows the authorized hunting season to be even longer and bloodier. It is therefore extremely satisfying to know that the tiny new-born badger cubs and their families will benefit from four months’ respite and that many will thus be spared.
There is no valid reason for controlling badgers in this way in France any more than there is in the UK and elsewhere in Europe where hunting them is banned.
«The badger is listed in Appendix III ‘protected fauna species the exploitation of which is regulated’ of the Bern Convention and is legally protected in most European countries: the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Denmark.»Statement from One Voice legal complaint (extract)
In addition our legal team pointed out a procedural irregularity and added that “no information is provided on the state of the populations of badgers in the department of Jura nor on the impact of the killings on these populations.”
So why go after these sociable and peaceful animals? Why dig deep trenches in the woods to the detriment of nature? Our investigation involving infiltrating hunters who shoot badgers after using dogs to flush them out from their setts at the start of this additional period in the Hauts-de-France (the northernmost region of France) had been broadcast in May 2020 and shown just how cruel this type of hunting was.
The Prefect of Jura made it quite clear in his response: it was because we had applied to have his decree annulled that he withdrew it.
«On looking closely at One Voice’s application I realised that the concept note made available to the public before the decree was signed on 26 June 2020 did not meet all the requirements of Article L. 123-19-1 of the Environment Code in that it did not sufficiently explain the objectives and the context relating to the envisaged start of an additional period of badger hunting. I have thus decided, even though the inadequacy of this document could be likely to deprive the public of a guarantee, to delete from my initial decree of 26 June 2020 the provision setting up an additional period for hunting badgers underground from 1 May to the general opening of the hunting season.»Statement by the Prefect of Jura (extract)
Please help us gain other victories by signing and sharing our petition #JAimeLesBlaireaux!
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Decree amending decree n° 2020-06-25-003 of 26 June 2020 relating to the start and end of the 2020-2021 hunting season in the department of Jura
Translated by Patricia Fairey