Born for the Hunt
In France, too, recreational hunters claim they must kill foxes and the like in order to save hares. This is, of course, just as much a farce as it is here. Recreational hunters are not concerned with protecting wildlife for its own sake, but always only with their own interests and their own hunting pleasure.
In France, not only partridges, ducks, and wild boar are bred and released for recreational hunting, but also hares.
Hare breeding farm for recreational hunting
A hare breeding farm for recreational hunting in Labarthe-Rivière in Haute-Garonne is now being accused of animal cruelty based on a published video.
«It is important to ban this practice as quickly as possible», says Pierre Rigaux, environmental activist and independent naturalist.
We were shocked by the way these hares are raised. They spend 3–4 years in these cages, which are very small. Hares are animals that need a lot of space and are very sensitive to stress. Their living conditions are absolutely cruel.
Pierre Rigaux
Allegations disputed by the breeder
According to the environmental activist, «young hares are sold for between 60 and 100 euros depending on their age». The clientele are hunting associations in several departments in southern France. They are released to do what the recreational hunting community calls «repopulation». Behind this topic, presented as ecological, lies the goal of hunting them.
«We want to make as many people as possible aware that this type of breeding exists», says Pierre Rigaux.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on the criticism of recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
