Germany: Action Alliance Calls for End to Fox Hunting

The red fox is one of the few wildlife species in Germany that is hunted almost year-round – without there being any compelling justification for this intensive persecution.

Organizations from across Germany have therefore joined a joint declaration calling for the abolition of fox hunting. Around half a million foxes are killed in Germany every year. The hunting methods employed include particularly cruel practices such as earth hunting and trapping.

Contrary to what the German Hunting Association (DJV) and its regional associations claim, there is simply no justification of any kind for hunting foxes.

Our neighbouring country Luxembourg followed this line of reasoning as far back as 2015. Since then, foxes have been protected there year-round. There is no sign whatsoever of the uncontrolled population explosion that hunting organizations had warned of in advance. Accordingly, neither the numbers of hares or pheasants have declined, nor have any problems with wildlife diseases emerged.

To lend further weight to the demand for an end to fox hunting in this country as well, organizations from across Germany are supporting a joint declaration by the Aktionsbündnis Fuchs (Fox Action Alliance). The 27 organizations and initiatives involved to date – among them Animal Public, Wildtierschutz Deutschland, TASSO, the Bund gegen den Missbrauch der Tiere, Tierversuchsgegner Deutschland, and others – set out in the declaration why the abolition of fox hunting is long overdue.

The full text of the declaration, along with the resulting demands, can be found on the Action Alliance's website: www.aktionsbuendnis-fuchs.de. Alongside a list of all current member organizations, it also features a comprehensive statement that backs the alliance's demands with numerous scientific sources. On a similarly named Facebook page anyone can take a stand for foxes with a “LIKE” and follow further posts about the action alliance.

In the coming months, the alliance's supporters will be providing further information about foxes and fox hunting in additional publications. “The consistently positive response from the various organizations didn’t really surprise us anymore,” confirms Daniel Peller – fox expert, founder of the “Fox Aid Network” and one of the initiators of the declaration. “In recent years, far greater transparency has come to light regarding the cruel and unnecessary practices surrounding fox hunting, thanks to media coverage and in particular the educational work of animal and nature conservation organizations. More and more people are rejecting fox hunting, which places the personal leisure interests and traditions of a minority above the lives of around half a million foxes each year, while largely ignoring current scientific findings and the unforeseeable negative consequences of these massive interventions for animals, the environment, and people.”