About us

Feature	Details
Legal form	Interest group (IG)
Founded	11 June 2015
Registered office	Acquarossa, Ticino, Switzerland
Purpose	Animal rights, nature and environmental protection
Method	Research, education, campaigning, initiatives
Area of activity	Switzerland, German-speaking region & international
Management	Carl Sonnthal
Statutes	Statutes document
Website	wildbeimwild.com

The hunting-critical platform with the widest reach in the German-speaking world

Wild beim Wild is an independent animal rights movement and the largest exclusively hunting-critical platform in the German-speaking region. With over 62’000 followers on Facebook, more than 1’100 posts on Instagram, 4’315’992 page views, 2’718’413 unique visitors and 3’696 published articles on wildbeimwild.com (as of March 2026), the IG reaches a community that is without equal in the field of hobby hunting criticism.

While large animal welfare organisations treat hobby hunting as one of many topics, Wild beim Wild has focused exclusively on this field since 2015. The result: a platform that delivers facts instead of hunters' yarns, evaluates official data, contextualises scientific studies, exposes the lobbying structures of the hobby hunters and, through criminal complaints, ensures that animal welfare law does not exist on paper alone – for wild animals and farm animals alike.

That a thematically specialised interest group from Ticino achieves such a reach shows that criticism of hobby hunting is long no longer a fringe topic, but a growing societal concern.

One does not become an opponent of hunting out of boredom, but out of knowledge of this cruelty to animals.

History

The IG Wild beim Wild was founded in Switzerland on 11 June 2015 by Carl Sonnthal to address the increasing pressure on wild animals from urbanisation, agriculture and cruel hobby hunting. Originally established as a local initiative, the organisation has developed over the years into a supranational voice for wild animals and their protection. Today it is among the most important hunting-critical organisations in Switzerland and is known as a centre of expertise against hobby hunting throughout the German-speaking region.

Goals

The overarching goal of the IG Wild beim Wild is the abolition of hobby hunting and the introduction of modern wildlife management modelled on the Canton of Geneva, which has had a hunting ban for hobby hunters since 19 May 1974: without hobby hunting, but with people of integrity, professional game wardens who act according to a code of honour.

In addition, the IG pursues the following goals:

Protection of habitats for wild animals
Protection of farm animals from the failure of the authorities, in particular where herd protection is lacking and the Animal Welfare Act is breached
Informing and educating the public about wild animals and hobby hunting
Promotion of sustainable practices in agriculture and forestry
Cooperation with animal and nature conservation organisations, politicians and authorities
Support for scientific methods of immunocontraception as an alternative to lethal population control
Promotion of animal rights for wild animals, who have no voice of their own in political decisions

As a matter of principle, the IG does not cooperate with hunting associations, the JagdSchweiz association or hunting-affiliated organisations.

Activities

IG Wild beim Wild runs a wide range of programmes and projects:

Source-based research, dossiers and background analyses on wild animal species, hunting law, animal welfare and hunting policy
Publication of the guiding principles for hunting criticism, source-based arguments against hobby hunting and for professional wildlife protection
Template texts for hunting-critical motions in cantonal parliaments
Regular press releases and campaigns
Legal work: the legal department regularly files criminal complaints and supports proceedings to protect wild animals and livestock – from cruelty to animals on the hobby hunt and official failures in herd protection through to political irresponsibility in cantonal governments
Support for the initiative «For professional wildlife protection»For professional wildlife protection» in collaboration with wildlife biologists and scientists
Cooperation with the police and public prosecutors in cases of criminal activity by hobby hunters and other instances of animal cruelty
Operation of the hobby hunter radar and of Hunt Watch
Production of videos and maintenance of the social media channels
Support for animal sanctuaries and the vegan way of life
Online petitions and information campaigns
Support for third-party organisations in animal and nature protection, for journalists as well as for private individuals

This is how we work

Wild beim Wild publishes research, analyses and fact checks on hobby hunting in Switzerland. Our content is based on verifiable sources: official kill figures, court rulings, parliamentary motions, scientific studies and original documents from the federal government and the cantons.

We distinguish clearly between three content formats:

Fact check: examination of a specific claim on the basis of verifiable data. We show the source situation, name uncertainties and formulate a comprehensible conclusion.
Analysis/dossier: contextualisation of complex topics such as hunting legislation, wildlife management or crime in the hunting context, with source references and context.
Commentary/campaign: clearly marked as an opinion piece or campaign labelled accordingly. Here the IG Wild beim Wild positions itself politically and ethically.

Errors are corrected once they come to our attention. Substantial corrections are transparently noted in the relevant article. Where the body of research is only of limited reliability, we say so openly.

Who is behind Wild beim Wild

Carl Sonnthal founded Wild beim Wild in 2015 and has led the organisation ever since. Over the years he has engaged intensively with hunting law, wildlife biology, animal welfare policy and the structures of the Swiss hunting lobby. His research into hunting crimes, official enforcement failures and the psychology of hobby hunting forms the foundation of the platform.

The editorial team works together with external specialists, including wildlife biologists, lawyers and journalists. On specific topics such as the Geneva model without hobby hunting, predator management or cantonal hunting acts, their expertise and source work feed into the articles.

Independence and funding

Wild beim Wild is a voluntarily run information and campaign platform. The IG itself accepts no donations. Anyone wishing to support animal welfare work financially donates directly to the charitable Stiftung Tiere in Not – Animal Help (STINAH), which finances, among other things, political and legal work. The IG receives no funds from hunting associations, the arms industry, state bodies or political parties. No advertisements are run. This independence is a prerequisite for critical reporting on hobby hunting, the hunting lobby and the way authorities deal with wild animals in Switzerland.

Positions

Hobby hunting and animal welfare law

Hobby hunting contradicts an enlightened, scientific and ethical understanding of nature and animals. Wild animals are sentient beings with social structures, the capacity to feel pain and stress reactions (cf. Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, 2012). They cannot be «harvested» in the course of a leisure activity like vegetables or fruit.

Article 1 of the Swiss Animal Welfare Act (TSchG) protects the dignity and well-being of animals. Article 26 TSchG makes it clear: no one may unjustifiably inflict pain, suffering or harm on an animal, place it in fear or otherwise disregard its dignity. For years the IG Wild beim Wild has documented how hobby hunting systematically undermines this principle.

Although it has been proven for decades (Luxembourg, Geneva, national parks) that foxes in particular require no «regulation» through killing, hobby hunters ignore scientific facts and disregard animal welfare laws.

Speciesism towards wild animals

In Switzerland, the anti-racism criminal provision prohibits the discrimination of people on the basis of their ethnic origin, skin colour and religion. For animals, however, the legal situation is different: non-native animal species are granted no protection, and their right to life is denied them by law on the basis of their origin. The Australian philosopher Peter Singer described this phenomenon in 1975 as «speciesism»: the human conviction of being superior to all other species by virtue of one's own species membership, and of being entitled to treat them at will. The IG Wild beim Wild campaigns for this attitude to no longer be accepted in a civilised society.

Non-violence as a guiding principle

Non-violence distinguishes the cultivated human being from the predator in the animal world. The passion for hunting is neither a mandate from society nor a right. With the recreationally motivated injuring and killing of wild animals, behaviours such as cruelty, brutality and indifference towards suffering are normalised — behaviours that must be eliminated in the interpersonal sphere.

What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to anyone else. This is a guiding principle of the IG.

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty!

Children's rights and hobby hunting

Children and young people must be protected from any form of violence. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child encompasses the right of all minors to physical and mental integrity. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child states:

Children must be protected from all forms of physical and psychological violence and from being exposed to violence, such as domestic violence or violence against animals.

From the perspective of the IG Wild beim Wild, the passive and active participation of children and young people in hunting activities is impermissible. In 2023, in an appeal, the IG called for minors to be protected from the harmful effect of the violence on the hobby hunt. Poland has already implemented this children's right and banned hobby hunting in the presence of minors.

Campaigns

Successes

Victory against the association JagdSchweiz (2020)

The IG Wild beim Wild filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor of Gossau SG against Hanspeter Egli, then president of JagdSchweiz, head of the Andwil hunting society and president of the cantonal association Revierjagd St. Gallen. Among other things, he was accused of breaches of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition, cruel hunts abroad, and violations of the Animal Welfare Act, namely the « disregard for the dignity of an animal ». There was also suspicion of bodily harm and of alarming the population through public incitement to acts of violence.

The association JagdSchweiz responded by trying to silence the IG. Troublesome contemporaries were, to put it in the words of the hobby hunters, to be « kept quiet » and « made to disappear from view ». The IG could not be intimidated and filed a complaint of its own.

On 17 July 2020, the court in Bellinzona ruled: practically everything that is cruel, unnecessary and heartless is, according to the legally binding judgment, promoted by the association JagdSchweiz. The case was spread nationwide by the Swiss News Agency (SDA) under the title « Top Swiss hunter reported to the authorities ».

Criminal complaints to protect wild and farm animals

The IG Wild beim Wild enforces animal welfare law not only through publishing but also legally. Since its founding, the legal department has filed numerous criminal complaints that go far beyond hobby hunting in the narrow sense:

Protection of farm animals: In the canton of Ticino, between October 2025 and February 2026, the IG documented at least 38 farm animals killed by wolf attacks, in which the veterinary office took no action despite the absence of herd protection. The IG filed a criminal complaint for official failure. The public prosecutor opened an investigation.
Hunting psychology and enforcement deficits: The IG analysed the Psychology of hobby hunting in the cantons and exposed enforcement deficits in animal welfare law.
Hunting lobbyism in authorities: In the canton of Aargau, the IG revealed how hunting lobbyists simultaneously hold sovereign public offices and thereby undermine neutrality and trust in the rule of law.
Systemic criticism of the justice system: In a comprehensive investigation, the IG documented structural problems in the Grisons justice system, which systematically looks the other way when it comes to hunting offences.
Political accountability: Criminal complaint against the Grisons Cantonal Councillor Mario Cavigelli, who had demonstrably misled the population and the Grand Council on hunting policy matters.
and much more.

This commitment shows: IG Wild beim Wild understands animal welfare as law enforcement. Where authorities fail, veterinary offices look away, or politicians shirk responsibility, the IG intervenes legally, for wild animals and farm animals alike.

Criminal complaint against the IOC and FEI (2021)

For animal cruelty during the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, IG Wild beim Wild filed a criminal complaint with the Lausanne public prosecutor against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The IOC and FEI were accused of violating the Animal Welfare Act and the Animal Welfare Ordinance.

The worldwide pressure generated by media coverage led to a rethink: the modern pentathlon will in future be conducted without the riding discipline.

Get involved

The movement is open to interested activists who wish to campaign for the protection of wild animals and their habitats. No formal membership is required, only determination.

Are you planning a hunting-critical initiative, petition or campaign? The IG helps with know-how, networking, research and facts.

The IG appeals to the public not to turn to hobby hunters when faced with problems involving wild animals, but instead to search online for expert wildlife advice that applies peaceful solutions.

With compassion you can help all animals and our planet. Choose compassion on your plate and in your glass. Go vegan.