Victory for the French and for the wolves!

Shooting
wolves has been stopped Thanks to citizen associations! The
Administrative Court of Nîmes has just ruled in favour of ASPAS,
Ferus, One Voice and ALEPE, by suspending on an interim basis the
Prefectural Decree of 22 July 2016 which unlawfully ordered the
“reinforced levy on shooting” a wolf for a duration of 6 months
in 6 communes in the Caucasus sector Méjean, in Lozère.

Most
French people want wolves to be kept in our country. This is done: in
his order suspending the order on 9 August, the judge stressed that
the sustainability of sheep farming in the department is not
compromised by the presence of a wolf, and notes the absence of the
implementation of “defensive shooting” prior to the
enhanced levy on shooting.

The
administrative judge recalls that battling against wolves cannot be
allowed if everything has not been implemented to protect herds at
risk of predation. There are indeed other means of protecting herds
than a spate of shootings that the Prefects can authorize, who aims
to kill wolves. A protected species, only as a last resort should
this be considered and only if damage is caused despite the
implementation of protective means.

The
court thus confirms a “serious doubt as to the legality” of
this prefectural decree that does not respect the conditions defined
in the ministerial decree governing the shooting of wolves, yet
itself extremely permissive.

It
is unacceptable that the Prefects, representatives of the law,
continue to allow the shooting of a protected species while many
herds are left without surveillance or protection, at the mercy of
other natural predators such as stray dogs.

The
solution is not in slaughter but in a profound change in farming
practices and the subsidy system for pastoralists, which currently
does not sufficiently encourage good practice.

In
the run-up to the regional elections, this fundamental problem is
surely too delicate to be tackled by politicians of all types who
prefer to multiply the shooting of wolves by not rubbing hunters and
the agricultural lobbies up the wrong way, at the risk of taking
illegal decisions.

Finally,
the associations demand the end of shooting wolves, and the
suppression of the compensation given to farmers not protecting their
livestock.

Press :

Madline Reynaud – ASPAS

Jean-François Darmstaedter – FERUS

Muriel Arnal – One Voice