Appenzell: Hobby Hunters Celebrate the “Night of the Fox”
In the night of 6 to 7 January, the so-called “Night of the Fox” took place as part of an act of animal cruelty, as the Hegering Appenzeller Mittelland reports.
Thirteen hobby hunters attempted to make a kill that night. Early on Saturday morning they gathered in Teufen. Nine slaughtered foxes were laid out in light snowfall.
A trio from Trogen played the hunting call Halali on their hunting horns. This form of wildlife management supposedly pursues the goal of preserving habitat for all biodiversity and enabling the species-appropriate development and spread of fauna and flora,the hunting association hypocritically claims.
18 Studies Confirm: Fox Hunting Does Not Regulate Populations
For more than 30 years, at least 18 wildlife biology studies have proven that fox hunting does not regulate populations and is also useless for disease control. Quite the contrary!
Pass Hunting: Treacherous Killing During Times of Need
In Switzerland, the so-called pass hunting takes place in various cantons well into winter (until the end of February). In these treacherous forms of hunting, foxes, badgers, martens and other animals are lured with food (cat and dog food, hunting offal, entrails, etc.) even during the winter period of hardship, accustomed to human presence and deceived — only to be killed senselessly and for sport.
Wild animals often leave a clearly visible trail, known as a “pass.” This is also the origin of the term pass hunting, in which hobby hunters lie in wait for an animal along its regular route. Hobby hunters conceal themselves in order to shoot various wild animals at the bait stations they have prepared (known as a Luderplatz).
Shots are fired from bedrooms, alpine meadows, and mountain pass huts fitted with small camouflaged windows. No matter whether it is the healthy father fox or possibly even a mother-to-be.
According to the Animal Welfare Act (Art. 26 TSchG), a “reasonable cause” must exist for killing an animal. In the case of hobby hunting of foxes and badgers, however, it is usually nothing more than the gratification of a bloody hobby or a barbaric tradition. The animals serve as living targets for recreational hunters, as there is neither a wildlife biology nor a public health justification for the mass hunting of healthy predators.
There is no legally mandated culling plan or population monitoring for foxes. Hobby hunting of foxes resembles a knee-jerk ecology practised by insufficiently trained recreational hunters.
The Geneva Model as an Alternative
We have great admiration for the canton of Geneva, with its professional wildlife management conducted without recreational hunters, but with dedicated and principled wildlife wardens. On the shores of Lake Geneva there are vineyards and other cultivated areas, just as in the rest of Switzerland. Clearly, however, they have developed humane and ethical approaches to dealing with wildlife, along with intelligent measures to protect crops. In Geneva, foxes, martens, or badgers are not culled simply because it is hunting season. This is also reflected in the federal hunting statistics. Instead, practical deterrence measures, meaningful education and assistance, and ongoing training are carried out among the population together with the wildlife wardens. Safety, animal welfare and ethics are the guiding principles.
It is especially important, particularly when it comes to recreational hunters, to look very closely indeed. Nowhere else is there so much manipulation through falsehoods, hunters’ tall tales, and fake news.
