Canton Thurgau Plans Ban on Earth Dog Hunting
The Thurgau cantonal government is subjecting the law on recreational hunting and the protection of wild mammals and birds to a partial revision.
Among other things, it proposes to ban the controversial earth dog hunting with dogs for badger and fox in the future.
The reason for revising the law is that the Federal Council has amended the federal hunting ordinance. This means that various provisions of the cantonal hunting law must be brought into line with current federal regulations. Adjustments are required in particular in the area of self-help measures against animals of protected species and regarding the requirements for hunting licences.
In 2010, the Thurgau Animal Welfare Association called for a year-round ban on earth dog hunting with dogs for badger and fox. At that time, the cantonal government agreed to implement this demand at the ordinance level when adapting cantonal hunting law. It is now proposing to include the sentence “Earth dog hunting is generally prohibited” in the law. This will allow the proposal to be discussed through a broadly based democratic process as part of the public consultation.
With regard to the size of hunting districts, the existing requirement that a district must cover a minimum of 500 hectares is to be supplemented by a minimum requirement of 100 hectares of woodland. The justification for this addition is that districts which cover 500 hectares but have only a small area of woodland also have only a small wildlife population. Such small districts are neither attractive from a hunting perspective nor desirable from an administrative standpoint.
The period of validity and the recognition of hunting licences are also to be newly regulated. In addition to hunting licences valid for individual days and for one year, it should now also be possible to obtain a licence for the entire lease period. This will reduce the administrative burden, as the Thurgau State Chancellery writes in a communiqué. Until now, equivalent hunting examinations from other cantons could be recognized in Thurgau, but not hunting licences from other cantons. This is now to become possible in order to support flexible hunting practices.
Furthermore, the cantonal government intends to extend self-help measures to crows and feral domestic pigeons, as these two species also occasionally cause damage. Damage caused by crows and feral domestic pigeons is to be placed on equal footing with damage caused by foxes and martens. This would give landowners the option of taking self-help measures — meaning that if they are threatened or harmed by these animals, they would be permitted to shoot them at any time in or around buildings and enclosed spaces.
The cantonal government also intends to clarify liability for damage caused by animals. On one hand, it is to be clearly established that the damage in question refers to damage to forests, agricultural crops, or livestock. On the other hand, the list of animal species for which the canton assumes liability for damage is to be extended to include cantonly protected species. This is justified, it is argued, because such protected animals may not be hunted by recreational hunters. In addition, hunting associations are to be required to contribute only 15 percent — rather than the previous one quarter — of the costs arising from deer or wild boar damage.
The cantonal government is introducing a new requirement whereby hobby hunters will in future be required to provide periodic proof of marksmanship in order to be considered eligible to hunt and to obtain a hunting licence. Finally, the legal form of a hunting association is to be expanded to permit not only the simple partnership but also the registered association, and the existing regulation defining the hunting year as running from 1 April to 31 March is to be aligned with the calendar year.
The Department of Justice and Security will subject the present draft amendment to the Hunting Act to a broad external consultation process, which will run until 10 June 2016. The draft will be submitted for comment to all parties represented in the Grand Council, the Association of Thurgau Municipalities, the associations representing recreational hunting, forestry, and agriculture, as well as the associations representing nature and animal welfare.
Revision of the Hunting Act — Draft Legislation [PDF, 2.00 MB]
Revision of the Hunting Act — Explanatory Report [PDF, 11.0 MB]
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