Kiel State Parliament closes the von Bismarck family's «hunting bordello»
Schleswig-Holstein bans the Bismarcks' enclosure hunting: Kiel State Parliament amends nature conservation law in the spirit of animal rights.
Amendment to the nature conservation law in the spirit of animal rights.
In November 2015, PETA filed a criminal complaint against the von Bismarck family over the illegal operation of two hunting enclosures in Sachsenwald, Schleswig-Holstein. Such hunting facilities have been banned in Schleswig-Holstein since 1999, as the life-contemptuous practice violates the principles of ethical hunting and the Animal Welfare Act. The family was granted a transitional period of 15 years to close the enclosures by October 2014. However, even a year after the deadline had passed, they were unwilling to give up the areas — arguing on the basis of so-called customary rights. The Kiel State Parliament has now passed an amendment to the nature conservation law stipulating that hunting within enclosures is no longer permitted in Schleswig-Holstein — meaning that the Bismarcks may no longer hold hobby hunts in their enclosures either. Vanessa Reithinger, PETA’s wildlife policy expert, commented:
«We very much welcome the fact that the Kiel State Parliament has now definitively banned the Bismarck family from holding hobby hunts in their hunting enclosures. In these fenced-off areas, animals serve as living targets for hobby hunters in a manner that violates animal welfare laws. With the aim of killing as many animals as possible, these enclosures become the stage for the bloodthirsty hobby of a handful of people who have more money than morals. The killing of animals as a leisure activity has no place in the 21st century — not even under the guise of tradition. Since, under current law, the Bismarck family should have closed the enclosures back in 2014, PETA expects the justice system to now act and prosecute the unlawful operation of the enclosures as a criminal offence.»
The proceedings against the Bismarck family are currently being handled by the public prosecutor’s office at the Lübeck Regional Court (case no.: 780 Js 48459 / 15). In hunting enclosures, wild animals such as roe deer, wild boar and deer kept in order to be released for shooting by hobby hunters. Within the enclosed areas, so-called driven hunts take place, or individual animals are made available to wealthy hobby hunters for a “shooting with a guaranteed kill.” This hunting practice blatantly contradicts fair chase principles as well as animal welfare legislation.
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