Animal Protection Federation Demands Reform of Hunting Law in RLP

They are calling for clear improvements to the draft legislation and a commitment to animal welfare, as promised by the Rhineland-Palatinate state government in its coalition agreement.

On Tuesday, 17 June, a hearing on the draft legislation will take place in the parliament's environment committee.

A comprehensive amendment to the state hunting law in Rhineland-Palatinate is long overdue. However, important changes that would have advanced animal welfare have already been dropped by the state government during the legislative process — under pressure from hunters, who want to maintain their dominance over forests and fields and continue using methods that violate animal welfare standards, criticises Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Protection Federation.

Anna-Lena Busch, Chair of the Rhineland-Palatinate state association of the German Animal Protection Federation, adds: “The state government pledged in its coalition agreement that animal welfare holds outstanding significance and therefore a firm place in the Rhineland-Palatinate state constitution. This must apply all the more to the practice of hunting and the associated killing of animals. We call on the state government to stop caving in and to guarantee at least a minimum standard of animal welfare in hunting law.”

The German Animal Protection Federation and its Rhineland-Palatinate state association had already advocated in a statement in October 2023 on the first draft legislation, in discussions with the responsible department, and at public stakeholder hearings, for a complete ban on hunting methods that violate animal welfare standards — such as den hunting and trapping, the killing of dogs and cats under the guise of hunting protection, and the training of hunting dogs on live animals.

After amendments were withdrawn again, the current draft legislation now only provides for a ban on kill traps and a ban on training hunting dogs using live ducks that have previously been rendered flightless. These points must urgently be retained from an animal welfare perspective.

Animal welfare organizations are additionally calling for at least a comprehensive ban on the shooting of cats and dogs, a complete ban on animal welfare-incompatible hunting methods such as earth hunting and falconry, as well as a general ban on training hunting dogs on live animals — not only ducks, but also foxes in artificial earths and in wild boar enclosures.

Animal species such as the Eurasian coot or the Eurasian collared dove, which cause no damage and are not utilized, as well as threatened or declining species such as the European hare or quail, must be removed from hunting law according to the German Animal Welfare Federation. There is no “reasonable justification” for killing them, as required by animal protection law in Germany.

Animal welfare advocates sharply criticize the planned inclusion of the wolf in hunting law. The conservation status of wolf populations is currently still rated as predominantly “unfavorable” according to scientific criteria, which for the foreseeable future does not justify blanket culling and therefore no inclusion in hunting law.