Foxes rescued from animal welfare-violating conditions kept by hobby hunter

Previously, PETA had contacted the authority last September following a whistleblower tip.

The photos submitted show the animals in a wire mesh shed estimated at only 10–15 square metres, attached to the home of a hobby hunter; according to the report, a foul smell could be detected from outside.

During the subsequent inspection, the veterinary office objected to the keeping conditions, whereupon the hobby hunter voluntarily handed the foxes over to the authority. Yet another example of criminal activity in the context of recreational hunting.

As early as September, two of the animals were brought by the wildlife protection association WITAS e.V. to their rescue station in Saarland. Prior to this, one animal had managed to escape from the enclosure.

According to the wildlife rescue station, these are foxes that were exploited in an artificial earth facility in Saarland for the purpose of training dogs for hobby hunting. Due to the cruel conditions of their captivity, they are reported to be severely traumatised. According to the veterinary office, the responsible hobby hunter is henceforth prohibited from keeping foxes. In view of the animals' agonising living conditions, PETA will shortly be filing a criminal complaint against the hobby hunter with the Kaiserslautern public prosecutor's office.

«The veterinary office in Kusel responded exemplarily by having the official veterinarians quickly rescue the foxes following our report. This spares the animals not only a life in a foul-smelling shed, but also the abuse in an artificial earth facility where they were subjected to mortal terror time and again», said Peter Höffken, specialist advisor at PETA. «We thank the Kusel veterinary office for their efforts. Now the foxes can recover from their psychological and physical mistreatment at the rescue centre.»

How cruel artificial earth facilities are

In Germany, there are still around 100 to 150 artificial earth facilities, including some in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. At the end of August, PETA contacted the responsible ministers Katrin Eder and Petra Berg, demanding the closure of all artificial earth facilities in those states. The occasion was a video published by the animal rights organisation from an artificial earth facility in Lemgo. Artificial earth facilities are a clear example of the animal welfare problem of hobby hunting.

It shows how the vixen imprisoned inside repeatedly flinches in panic and mortal terror. The procedure, carried out several times a week, serves to train "hunting dogs" for earth dog hunting of foxes and badgers. To prepare the "hunting dogs", they are repeatedly sent into the artificial tunnels and set upon the fox imprisoned inside, which suffers mortal terror in the process. The animals are ultimately separated only by a grate or a sliding partition. However, the fox does not know that the dog cannot reach it at any given moment.

Criticism of artificial earth facilities grows

In principle, operating an artificial earth facility is not prohibited. However, through dozens of PETA criminal complaints over the past three years, many of these facilities have been inspected by veterinary authorities for the first time. The conditions found were in some cases so poor that foxes were rescued, facilities were closed or at least conditions were imposed. Following this, the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety drew up "minimum animal welfare requirements for the operation of artificial earth facilities" for the Bavarian veterinary offices in 2022.

The authors of the aforementioned minimum requirements published a specialist article in the magazine of the Tierärztliche Vereinigung für Tierschutz e.V. advocating for an end to artificial earths and den hunting. In 2023, the renowned legal journal «Agrar- und Umweltrecht» published an article in which the author elaborated on the criminal liability of artificial earth operators. The question of why the hobby hunt fails as population control, arises here as well.