«End of speciesism: These demands show why recreational hunting is under scrutiny»

World Day for the End of Speciesism 2026 takes place on Saturday, 29 August.

The international campaign End of Speciesism sets out five central demands aimed at overcoming the species boundary as a moral boundary. We have already presented the campaign for the World Day for the End of Speciesism. The specific demands, however, have so far been little known, even though they touch on recreational hunting directly in several respects.

A new legal status instead of property

The first demand calls for a new legal status for animals, one that moves away from the status of being mere property. As long as non-human animals are legally regarded as objects, the interests of the owner regularly prevail in the event of conflict – even when they are trivial – over the fundamental interests of the animal. It is precisely this imbalance that becomes particularly clear in recreational hunting: wild animals are legally regarded as ownerless objects, over whose life and death decisions are made within the framework of the cantonal hunting acts, without their own interests being weighed as a legal good.

Education against speciesism

The second demand calls for worldwide information campaigns and mandatory educational modules to prevent speciesism. Applied to Switzerland, this also means a critical examination of recreational hunting starting in schools, where children today still come into contact with hunting horn players, Hubertus masses and trophy culture without the ethical dimension of killing as a leisure activity ever being addressed.

An end to killing for consumption

The third demand is directed against the slaughter industry and fishing and calls for an end to subsidies for animal agriculture. Even though this demand relates primarily to livestock farming, it can be applied directly to recreational hunting: game meat is likewise killed for consumption, even though there is no necessity for it. Studies also show health risks from lead and PFAS in game meat, which further weakens the argument that it is a “sustainable source of meat”.

Ethical research instead of animal testing

The fourth demand concerns science primarily, but it establishes a principle that also applies to recreational hunting: no sentient being should be instrumentalised simply because it is weaker than humans. Recreational hunting instrumentalises wild animals as a leisure activity, as a trophy or for supposed “regulation”, even though recognised wildlife biologists such as Prof. Dr Josef Reichholf provide evidence of the natural self-regulation of wild animal populations.

Respect for individuals instead of resource thinking

The fifth demand requires that animal interests be included in all environmental decisions, regardless of whether a species is threatened with extinction. This is the most direct link to recreational hunting: under current hunting law, wild animals are treated as a “natural resource” that may be managed and “used”. End of Speciesism explicitly contradicts this logic: a roe deer or a fox is not a component of a wildlife population, but an individual with its own interest in an unharmed life.

These demands are not an abstract position paper; they can be concretely called for. That is why, together with End of Speciesism, we are also calling for the World Day against Hunting on 11 November, a day on which we visibly stand up for a hunting-free future and genuine species protection. Take part, inform yourself and make a stand against recreational hunting.

Conclusion

The demands of End of Speciesism show that the criticism of recreational hunting is not an isolated fringe topic in Switzerland, but part of an international movement that seeks to fundamentally renegotiate the moral status of animals. In our dossier on hunting we bring together fact checks, analyses and background reports that substantiate these demands with Swiss case studies.