Hobby hunter shoots sled dog Mara
There had been repeated complaints about him: he allegedly forced horse riders into the roadside ditch with his car, threatened a police officer with a weapon, or fired at ducks over the heads of passers-by.
77-year-old faces charges in Hassfurt
The hobby hunter in the final stages of his faculties, Hermann D., 77 years old, faces charges in Hassfurt, Bavaria, for allegedly shooting a sled dog named Mara.
The incident occurred while Mara's owner, Birgit Brunner, a tourist from Austria, was paddling on a river on 18 June 2022. She heard a shot and found Mara in agonising pain. A .22 calibre projectile had torn through her liver, spleen and lungs.
The hobby hunter fled the scene, and Mara died shortly afterwards. Hermann D. claims he shot the dog because it was chasing a hare, but witnesses contradict this, pointing out that Mara had a hip injury and could not run far, reports bild.de.
Fundamental questions to be addressed
But it is not only the death of the female dog Mara that is of interest to the court. The trial also raises a fundamental question: what is a hobby hunter permitted to do, and what is he not? The Animal Welfare Act provides for the “killing of a vertebrate without reasonable cause” (§ 17 TierSchG) a fine of between 5 and 360 daily rates or a custodial sentence of between 1 month and 3 years.
Recreational hunting and crime against animals
The Mara case is not an isolated incident. Time and again, pets are killed by recreational hunters. The senile hobby hunter is charged with a violation of the Animal Welfare Act and could face a custodial sentence of up to three years. The trial is still ongoing; the verdict is expected on 20 November.
