Leading culture: On hunting criticism

Economic and ecological framework

Agriculture, forestry, climate change and hunting on the one hand, and the urban sprawl of untouched natural landscapes on the other, are primarily responsible for the drastic reduction in biodiversity.

Intensive agrochemical farming robs wildlife of its habitat; surviving animals are gradually driven to the brink of extinction by excessive hunting.

Forestry is geared towards maximizing timber yields. The slogan "forest before game" defines the situation – forest animals are seen as a disruptive factor in this industry. Damage to forests caused by browsing is often used as a pretext to forcibly reduce wildlife populations to a standardized level defined by economic interests. Nature is being transformed into an open-air industrial complex and slaughterhouse for recreational hunters.

Psycho-pathological component

Fields and forests are partly privately owned and partly state-owned. The state is constitutionally responsible for the public's assets; wild animals therefore belong to the entire population (res nullius) and not to a minority of recreational hunters who have arrogated to themselves the exclusive rights to exploit them. "Nature and animal conservation" through recreational hunting is practically nonexistent; trophy hunting and the thrill of the hunt take precedence. Hunting is a largely pleasure-driven and widespread form of species terrorism.

Hunting is the last legal way to kill with a weapon with impunity in peacetime. It is the last opportunity to indulge the urge to kill without restraint . As examples drastically demonstrate, gun ownership always carries the risk of abuse.

This environment is predominantly populated by individuals with a corresponding mental disposition and a profound lack of empathy. A glance at hunting magazines or social media confirms this and regularly reveals a frightening lust for killing and a cult of weapons.

The neurologist and award-winning psychoanalyst and writer Paul Parin explained in his widely acclaimed book "The Passion of the Hunter" (Europäische Verlagsanstalt, 2003): "Real hunting is impossible without premeditated killing. Passionate hunters want to kill. Hunting without murder is a concept that negates itself… And because hunting is about passion, greed, lust – a fever, in fact – it is about… sex and crime, about sexual desire and crimes of every kind, about murder and lust murder."

Legal-structural component

Hunting is embedded in structures that undermine democratic principles. Hobby hunters often head cantonal hunting authorities, deciding on the interpretation, application, and sanctions of hunting practices in their own interests. These pro-hunting structures encompass personnel from across the entire spectrum of society – from tradespeople to politicians – creating a network that guarantees advantages and creates dependencies for those involved.

As a result, there is largely no law in the forests , and official hunting controls are virtually nonexistent. Animal welfare is delegated back to recreational hunters, so that an autonomous, self-governing, and sectarian system of interests has established itself within the state.

For many animal species, official hunting decisions are not based on sound scientific research, data, or necessity, but rather on the populist calculations of the issuing authority. Alternatives to hunting are almost never considered.

At the instigation of the agricultural and hunting lobbies, driven hunts (beaten hunts) across multiple hunting grounds are increasingly being conducted. All driven hunts contain elements of animal cruelty simply due to the fact that shots are inaccurate and fired almost indiscriminately. The law defines "game management" as the protection and care of wild animals, whereas "hunting" refers to the pursuit, capture, and killing of game. This distinction between "game management" and "hunting" is clearly illustrated by the fact that the responsibility for game management remains with the landowner, even if the hunting rights are transferred to the hunting association.

For certain animal species, no reliable statistical data exists. For example, fox and bird hunting is not subject to any restrictions or quotas, meaning that individual hobby hunters are free to chase, torture, hunt, and kill at will. This carte blanche creates an unprecedented level of wildlife terrorism perpetrated by callous anti-animalists.

The established social structures of many wild animal species , especially wild boar, are being disrupted by recreational hunters. Dominant animals, which control reproduction rates, are now almost entirely absent from the sounders and groups. Population dynamics have increased dramatically due to the considerable and ever-growing hunting pressure.

Foxes, which are monogamous and territorial in the wild, are forced to relocate to find new partners because their pairs are broken up by recreational hunters. This destruction of social structures not only leads to new pair formations, ensuring that every female is fertilized and thus increasing the birth rate, but also exacerbates the transmission of diseases that hunting is supposedly intended to combat.

Bird hunting , especially duck hunting, causes an unparalleled form of indiscriminate animal selection. A bird that escapes persecution in one hunting area during its cross-border flights is subject to the same persecution in the next and subsequent hunting grounds. These animals are defenseless against the pleasure-driven selection of animals. Disasters in the social structure of affected animal groups and in the species composition of entire bird populations are thus inevitable. Through the use of shotgun ammunition, which often causes non-instantly fatal wounds with internal injuries, hundreds of thousands of wounded animals suffer a slow, agonizing death every year.

Absolutely decadent and morbid are foreign hunts in which, driven by pure lust for killing, both endangered and often internationally strictly protected species as well as tame breeding animals (for example, lions) are killed pathological animal killers

Ethical-political component

Animals are individuals capable of experiencing joy and suffering, pain and happiness ; they possess rights and must be respected as fellow creatures. Hunting is fundamentally at odds with an enlightened, progressive understanding of nature and animals.

Humanity, through self-appointment and a self-understanding that defies all scientific logic, has granted itself the right to decide, without any qualms of conscience, on the interests of all other beings (species), in order to enslave, kill, breed, and alter them at will. Hunting is merely one small facet of this gigantic anthropogenic system of folly and oppression.

Today's hunting law originated from National Socialist ideology and remains valid in its basic principles. Fascist elements such as language, masculinity, unity, strength, rituals, symbols, and the "regenerative" power of violence—redefined as violence against animals—are unmistakably present. The excessive reliance on tradition, in particular, supports this thesis.

Fascist ideology often supports a sense of "racial" superiority and ethnic persecution. The humane perspective in hunting has transformed into an animalistic one, morphing into an anti-animalism . Humans, especially hunters, have developed a fascist-like species selectionism , which has escalated into a merciless terrorism against wild animals. Genocidal behavior can be observed towards certain animal species (for example, foxes or invasive species) and defined enemy groups (so-called "vermin" and "predators").

Anyone who gets a hunting license receives two things: a license to kill and a license to become stupid. Many hobby hunters are gun enthusiasts and are also active in shooting clubs. Furthermore, hobby hunters commit a strikingly high number of criminal offenses, of which only the tip of the iceberg appears in the media. A look at hunting statistics also reveals the full extent of the culture of violence within this milieu.

Natural disaster, hobby hunter

In the chaos that nature finds itself in after decades of being managed and cared for by hobby hunters , the proportion of threatened species is higher in Switzerland than in any other country in the world. For decades, these contract killers have been creating an ecological imbalance in the cultivated landscape, with sometimes dramatic consequences (protective forests, diseases, agricultural damage, and much more). Over a third of plant, wildlife , and fungal species are considered threatened. Switzerland also ranks last in Europe when it comes to designating protected areas for biodiversity. It is precisely these circles of hobby hunters, with their lobbying efforts, who have been responsible for this situation for decades through politics, media, and legislation. They are the ones who notoriously block modern, ethical improvements in animal welfare and sabotage serious animal and species conservation. Hobby hunters regularly oppose the creation of more national parks in Switzerland because their concern is not nature, biodiversity, species conservation, or animal welfare , but rather the pursuit of their perverse, bloody hobby.

Did you know …

innocent young wolves in Switzerland ?
that hobby hunters lie when assessing the quality of game meat , and that processed game meat is carcinogenic according to the WHO, like cigarettes, asbestos, or arsenic?
That, according to the study, nowhere is the lead contamination of golden eagles and bearded vultures higher than in the Swiss Alps, due to the ammunition used by hobby hunters?
Is the idea that the ethical hunting practices of hobby hunters are diametrically opposed to animal welfare laws and are a mirage?
Is hunting considered war , where one simply eliminates animal competitors?
Did you know that there are countless illegal and unmarked hunting blinds in our natural environment, some of which are so dilapidated that they pose a danger to children and can even lead to fatalities?
that countless people are killed or injured by hunting weapons every year, sometimes so severely that they end up in wheelchairs or have limbs amputated?
Did you know that in Switzerland around 120,000 perfectly healthy deer, foxes, marmots and chamois are killed every year, mostly senselessly?
Is it really so difficult today to live in harmony with wild animals and to see wild animals because of hobby hunters?
that shotgun loads make hares scream like small children and shatter the entrails of “shot” deer and stags so that they leave traces for tracking as they flee?
that the claim of hobby hunters, that the gruesome massacres of wild animals are necessary to regulate animal populations, has been scientifically refuted?
that hobby hunters openly admit that hunting is about the “lust for killing” and “the joy of making prey” – a pathological passion?
That hobby hunters don't have a sixth sense and yet regularly claim that they only shoot sick and weak animals, which of course isn't true in practice?
That hobby hunters travel abroad for trophy hunting, far from all species and hunting protection regulations, and that there are even Swiss hobby hunter travel agencies for such idiotic hunting pleasures?
that the vast majority are not legitimate professional hunters, but pursue hunting as a hobby, sport and leisure activity, which is immoral and actually contradicts the animal protection law?
That 99.07% of civilized people in Switzerland are not hobby hunters, meaning that only 0.3% of hobby hunters enjoy these bloody activities?
That these wildlife killers do not hunt based on scientific justifications?
that protected species should not actually be subject to hunting law, because hobby hunters are overwhelmed by species protection and repeatedly shoot animals on the Red List, such as lynx, wolf, hare, partridge, quail, etc., for fun?
that hobby hunters deliberately decimate certain animal species to eliminate competition for their unnatural behavior (fox, lynx, wolf, birds of prey, etc.)?
that the game dies before the hobby hunter can even fire a single shot, that this must be prevented, and that this is probably the central idea of conservation and management as well as hunting planning?
that with wild boars (and foxes) normally only the lead sow has young, but because she is shot, all female animals within the sounder reproduce, and that is also why we have a wild boar glut?
that grazing animals – deer, roe deer, etc. – originally lived mainly during the day in fields and meadows, like goats, sheep, cows, etc., and not in the forest?
that the wolf is vital for the long-term health of wild ungulates because, for example, it hunts sick or weak animals with incredible precision and is therefore far superior to hobby hunters?
that foxes usually end up in the trash after the pointless hunt?
Did you know that foxes are mainly hunted today so that there are more hares, etc., for hobby hunters to put in the frying pan? But that foxes don't actually feed on hares over 90% of the time, and never catch a healthy hare?
that one cannot simply deal with hobby hunters in animal welfare with gentleness, street festivals, prayer beads, etc. (a rough block requires a rough wedge)?
that hobby hunters, with their tall tales, engage in a disrespectful mockery of living beings?
Is it true that it is frowned upon to shoot big game at feeding time or during the mating season, but the hobby hunter has no qualms about doing so with the fox, a competitor for prey?
that in some cantons, hobby hunters only go hunting for the tender meat of a young animal?
that hobby hunters shoot pregnant cows in front of their calves or only calves during the rearing period ( post-special hunt )?
that hobby hunters are poisoning the environment, nature, people and animals with their ammunition?
that bestiality, barbarity, cruelty, bloodshed and senseless suffering cannot be a cultural asset in a civilized society?
Did you know that hobby hunters shoot around 10,000 fawns every year?
That hobby hunters starving animals with food , only to be able to shoot them treacherously and cowardly?
that hobby hunters send trained dogs into caves to eliminate foxes and badgers (burrow hunting)?
that hobby hunters lure peaceful creatures into box traps, in which they may suffer for days waiting for their killer, or often subject the animals to a death struggle lasting for hours (trapping)?
That hobby hunters cowardly ambush or injure peaceful wild animals while they are sleeping or sunbathing, using state-of-the-art precision weapons?
that hobby hunters support awards, fur markets, prize ceremonies for trophy worship, trophy shows, fur trade, etc.?
That hobby hunters firearms in the hands of underage schoolchildren and practice killing with them?
that hobby hunters often carry out their cruel acts in solitude, which promotes animal cruelty?
that hobby hunters often severely injure many wild animals, and the victims often suffer for hours in enormous agony and fear until a bloodhound finds them and they are shot?
that hobby hunters (apart from vivisection) inflict the most suffering and abuse on animals, also through the way they kill them?
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 being body and soul, and culminates in making it prey through the act of killing?
that hobby hunters actually promote browsing damage through hunting pressure, especially on predators such as foxes, lynxes and wolves?
that hobby hunters the floodgates to antisocial, unethical, and unchristian behavior ?
that hobby hunters deprive the public of normal, natural wildlife observations and interactions?
That there is no greater product of cruelty and contaminated with ammunition than game meat?
that there is no uniform regulation across Switzerland regarding eye tests, shooting practice, etc. for hobby hunters?
that there is no psychological temperament test for amateur hunters?
that there is no alcohol ban for hobby hunters when they shoot animals with their weapons?
that hobby hunters infiltrate school facilities to impose their hunting tales and violence on the children?
that a court in Bellinzona recently confirmed that hunting associations promote practically everything that is cruel, unnecessary and heartless?
that the association “Jagd Schweiz” primarily cultivates disrespect and a culture of violence – exactly the opposite of what a cultured person in our society should strive for.
Did you know that in the canton of Graubünden alone, over 1,000 charges and fines are issued against hobby hunters every year?

Interest Group Wild at Wild

The IG Wild beim Wild (Wild with Wild) is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to the sustainable and non-violent improvement of the human-animal relationship. The group also specializes in the legal aspects of wildlife protection. One of our main goals is to implement modern and responsible wildlife management in the cultural landscape, modeled on the system used in the Canton of Geneva – without recreational hunters, but with reputable game wardens who truly deserve the title and act according to a code of ethics. The monopoly on the use of force should remain with the state. The IG supports scientifically based methods of immunocontraception for wild animals.

More on the topic of hobby hunting: In our dossier on hunting, we compile fact checks, analyses and background reports.