Hobby hunter shoots pony: Animal put down
Those who cannot succeed as hobby hunters without technical aids will not succeed with night vision devices either.
A hobby hunter in Lower Austria is reported to have mistaken a pony for a wild boar last week.
Pony shot with night-vision aiming device
The perpetrator is said to have been active in Neulengbach (St. Pölten district). According to police confirmation, the man claimed to have mistaken the animal for a wild boar. He used a night-vision aiming device, according to the hunting association. The shot pony had to be put down, and a temporary weapons ban was imposed on the man.
Night-vision aiming device permitted for wild boar
According to the Lower Austria Hunting Association, the aiming device is permitted for hobby hunting of wild boar and the man had met the requirements for its use. A complaint was filed and a report will be forwarded to the public prosecutor's office, said police spokesman Raimund Schwaigerlehner. The prosecuting authority will then decide whether a criminal offence has been committed.
The case once again demonstrates how hobby hunters make fundamental errors even with the aid of technical equipment — errors that cost animals their lives. Anyone who cannot distinguish a pony from a wild boar has no business being out in the field.
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