Criticism of the Hunting Fair at the Umwelt Arena Spreitenbach

The organisation refers to the event as a “hunting violence fair” and calls on the public to boycott it.

In the organisation’s view, hobby hunting is not a traditional cultural heritage but an outdated form of leisure activity that is incompatible with animal welfare and ethical responsibility.

While the hunting industry portrays its activities as a contribution to “nature conservation” or “tradition”, IG Wild beim Wild points out that there is no reasonable justification for hunting numerous animal species at all — including jays, carrion crows, hares, foxes, badgers, and domestic cats. Rather, wild and domestic animals are killed annually “for fun”, under the guise of so-called wildlife management.

“True nature lovers do not need a rifle,” the organisation states. “Those who love nature protect it — they do not celebrate it at a fair as though it were a shooting range park.”

Instead of hunting and trophy culture, IG Wild beim Wild proposes non-violent alternatives for living a connection with nature: birdwatching, herb walks, nature photography, volunteer work in conservation, the Bergwaldprojekt, or “Citizen Science” projects in which citizens provide valuable data for research. Such activities foster knowledge, mindfulness, and respect towards all living beings, without causing suffering.

The criticism is directed not only at the hunting fair itself, but also at the Umwelt Arena Spreitenbach, which repeatedly provides a platform for events that run counter to animal welfare. This includes terrarium fairs at which exotic animals are presented in cramped plastic boxes and sold to unprepared buyers. The IG calls on the municipality of Spreitenbach to no longer make its premises available for events that glorify animal cruelty or hunting.

At such fairs and exhibitions, it is not the welfare of the animals that takes center stage, but profit. Many reptiles suffer from stress and fear, cannot be kept in a species-appropriate manner in captivity, and die prematurely. Furthermore, handling exotic animals poses a health risk: according to studies, up to 90 percent of reptiles carry salmonella, which can also be transmitted to humans. Animal shelters and rescue centers are overwhelmed with exotic animals because many owners are out of their depth.

In addition, IG Wild beim Wild points to numerous violations and grievances surrounding hobby hunting. Year after year, tens of thousands of healthy wild animals in Switzerland — including roe deer, foxes, chamois and their predators — are killed, often with great suffering. Stray shots regularly lead to injuries or even fatalities among humans. Ecological balance also suffers: decades of intervention by recreational hunters have left the proportion of endangered species in Switzerland at an alarmingly high level.

The organisation criticizes hobby hunters for cultivating a culture of violence that disguises itself as a connection to nature, but in reality promotes suffering, imbalance and regression. While other countries or the canton of Geneva have long established professional wildlife management without hobby hunters, other regions continue to tolerate practices that blatantly contradict the Animal Welfare Act.

"It is tasteless to promote the killing of animals as an entertaining leisure sport," says Carl Sonnthal of IG Wild beim Wild. "Under the guise of a connection to nature, hobby hunting causes immeasurable suffering. A civilised society must not regard such bloodshed as culture."

The IG Wild beim Wild therefore calls for a rethinking in the way wildlife is treated: away from weapons, towards education, compassion and respect. Spreitenbach can make an important contribution to the protection of animals and people by introducing a municipal ban that no longer provides a platform for such events based on animal suffering.

Natural disaster: hobby hunters

In the disarray in which nature finds itself after decades of stewardship and management by recreational hunters, the proportion of endangered species is higher in no other country in the world than in Switzerland. These hired killers have been creating an ecological imbalance in the cultivated landscape for decades, with sometimes dramatic consequences (protective forests, diseases, agricultural damage, and much more). Over one third of plant, wildlife and fungal species are considered endangered. Switzerland also ranks last in Europe when it comes to designating protected areas for biodiversity. It is precisely these circles of hobby hunters, through their lobbying activities in politics, media and legislation, who have been responsible for this for decades. They are the ones who notoriously block contemporary, ethical improvements in animal welfare and sabotage serious animal and species protection. Hobby hunters regularly oppose more national parks in Switzerland, because their concern is not nature, biodiversity, species protection or animal welfare, but rather the pursuit of their perverse, bloody hobby.

Did you know …

• that in Switzerland innocent young wolves are being eliminated?
• that hobby hunters lie about the assessment of game meat quality, and that processed game meat is classified as carcinogenic by the WHO, just like cigarettes, asbestos or arsenic?
• that according to a study, nowhere is the lead contamination of golden eagles and bearded vultures higher than in the Swiss Alps, due to ammunition used by hobby hunters?
• that the fair chase ethics of hobby hunters are diametrically opposed to animal welfare legislation and amount to nothing but a mirage?
• that hunting is war, where animal competitors are simply eliminated?
• that there are countless illegal and unmarked hunting blinds in our natural landscape, some so rotten that they pose a danger to children and can cause people to lose their lives?
• that year after year countless people are killed or injured by hunters’ weapons, some so severely that they end up in wheelchairs or have limbs amputated?
• that approximately 120,000 perfectly healthy roe deer, red deer, foxes, marmots and chamois are senselessly killed every year in Switzerland?
• that because of hobby hunters it is today barely possible to live in harmony with wildlife or to observe wild animals?
• that shotgun blasts make hares scream like small children and tear apart the entrails of “shot” roe deer and red deer, so that they leave a trail for the tracking dog during their flight?
• that the claim made by hobby hunters that the cruel wildlife massacres are necessary to regulate animal populations has been scientifically refuted?
• that hobby hunters openly admit that hunting is about the “pleasure of killing” and “the joy of making a kill,” a pathological obsession?
• that hobby hunters have no sixth sense and yet regularly claim they only shoot sick and weak animals, which is of course not true in practice?
• that hobby hunters travel abroad for trophy hunting, far removed from any species protection or hunting regulations, and that there are even Swiss hobby hunter travel agencies catering to such depraved hunting pursuits?
• that the vast majority are not legitimate professional hunters, but pursue hunting as a hobby, sport and recreational pastime, which is neither morally justifiable nor compatible with animal protection legislation?
• that 99.07% of civilised people in Switzerland are not hobby hunters, meaning only 0.3% of hobby hunters take pleasure in these bloody activities?
• that these wildlife killers do not hunt on the basis of scientific justifications?
• that protected species do not actually belong under hunting law, because hobby hunters are overwhelmed by the demands of species conservation and repeatedly shoot animals listed on the Red List — such as lynx, wolf, brown hare, grey partridge, quail, and others — for amusement?
• that hobby hunters deliberately decimate certain animal species in order to eliminate competition for their unnatural behavior — such as foxes, lynx, wolves, birds of prey, and others?
• that wildlife dies before the hobby hunter has fired a single shot, that this must be prevented, and that this is arguably the central concern of wildlife stewardship, habitat management and hunting planning?
• that in the case of wild boar (and foxes), normally only the lead sow produces young, but that as a result of her being shot, all female animals within the group begin to reproduce — which is also one of the reasons we are experiencing a wild boar population explosion?
• that grazing animals – deer, roe deer, etc. – originally lived mainly as diurnal creatures in fields and meadows, like goats, sheep, cows, etc., and not in the forest?
• that the wolf is vitally important for the long-term health of wild ungulates, because it hunts sick or weak animals with incredible precision, for example, and is thereby vastly superior to hobby hunters?
• that foxes, after being senselessly hunted, mostly end up in the trash?
• that foxes today are hunted primarily so that there are more hares, etc. for hobby hunters' frying pans? That the fox, however, feeds on hares in less than 10% of cases and would never catch a healthy hare?
• that in animal protection, one cannot confront hobby hunters with gentleness alone, street festivals, prayer chains, etc. (desperate times call for desperate measures)?
• that hobby hunters use the hunters' tall tales to engage in a disrespectful mockery of living beings?
• that it is considered taboo to shoot big game at feeding stations or during mating season, yet hobby hunters have no qualms about doing exactly this to their competitor the fox?
• that in some cantons, hobby hunters go hunting solely for the tender meat of a young animal?
• that hobby hunters shoot pregnant mother deer in front of their young, or target only young animals during the rearing season (special post-season hunt)?
• that hobby hunters poison the environment, nature, humans and animals with their ammunition?
• that bestiality, barbarism, cruelty, bloodshed and senseless suffering cannot be considered cultural heritage in a civilized society?
• that hobby hunters shoot approximately 10’000 roe deer fawns every year?
• that in harsh winters, hobby hunters lure starving animals with food only to shoot them in a treacherous and cowardly manner?
• that hobby hunters send attack-trained dogs into burrows to eliminate foxes and badgers (den hunting)?
• that hobby hunters lure peaceful living beings into box traps, where they may suffer for days awaiting their killer, or are subjected to a death struggle lasting many hours (trap hunting)?
• that hobby hunters cowardly ambush and kill or wound peaceful wild animals while they sleep or bask in the sun, using state-of-the-art precision weapons?
• that hobby hunters support awards, fur markets, trophy ceremonies, trophy shows, the fur trade, etc.?
• that hobby hunters place firearms into the hands of underage schoolchildren and practice killing with them?
• that hobby hunters often carry out their cruel acts in solitude, which encourages animal cruelty?
• that hobby hunters merely seriously injure many wild animals and the victims often suffer for hours under enormous pain and fear, until a tracking dog finds them and they are shot?
• that hobby hunters (apart from vivisection) inflict the most suffering and abuse on animals, including through the manner of killing?
• that the hunter's love of animals and nature does not take pleasure in the existence of the beloved object, but rather aims to possess the beloved creature body and soul, culminating in turning it into prey through the act of killing?
• that hobby hunters actively encourage browsing damage through hunting pressure, particularly on predators such as fox, lynx and wolf?
• that hobby hunters open the door to antisocial, unethical and unchristian behavior?
• that hobby hunters deprive the public of normal, natural wildlife observation and interaction?
• that there is no greater product of torment and ammunition contamination than game meat?
• that there is no uniform regulation across Switzerland regarding vision tests, shooting practice, etc. for hobby hunters?
• that there is no psychological aptitude test for hobby hunters?
• that there is no alcohol ban for hobby hunters when they shoot at animals with their weapons?
• that hobby hunters infiltrate educational institutions in order to impose their hunters' jargon and their culture of violence on children?
• that a court in Bellinzona recently confirmed that hunting clubs promote practically everything that is cruel, unnecessary and heartless?
• that the association «Jagd Schweiz» cultivates above all a culture of disrespect and violence – the exact opposite of what a civilised person in our society should aspire to.
• that in the canton of Grisons alone, over 1’1,000 complaints and fines are issued against hobby hunters every year?

We commend the Canton of Geneva for its professional wildlife management without hobby hunters, but with upstanding game wardens. On Lake Geneva there are vineyards and other cultivated areas, as in the rest of Switzerland. Evidently, however, they apply humane and ethical approaches in dealing with wildlife and 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 and meaningful education, assistance and further training take place among the population together with the game wardens. Safety, animal welfare and ethics are the guiding principles.

Further information:

• Umwelt Arena Spreitenbach