Milan mobilises against hobby hunting

On Saturday, 19 September 2026, a national demonstration march against hobby hunting is set to take place in Milan.

The meeting point is at 2.00 pm at the Bastioni di Porta Venezia; the protest is directed against the planned Italian hunting reform DDL S.1552, which, following the Senate's decision, will continue to be deliberated in the Chamber of Deputies as C.2984.

Milan will thus become the stage for a nationwide animal welfare mobilisation one day before the general hunting season opens in Lombardy. According to the announcements, the march is being organised by Fronte Animalista and AVI – Associazione Vegani Internazionale; animal welfare associations, animal shelters, protection centres, volunteers and people without organisational affiliation are all invited to take part.

Protest before the hunting season begins

The choice of date is politically charged. In Lombardy, the general 2026/27 hobby hunting season begins on 20 September, immediately after the planned protest in the region's metropolis.

With this, the organisers want to make the conflict visible: while the hobby hunting season begins regionally, the Italian parliament is deliberating a reform that would profoundly change the legal status of wild animals and the limits of hunting practice.

The call to action is deliberately broad in its wording. It is not about the demonstration of a single organisation, but about a joint signal from various movements in favour of protecting wild animals, habitats and ecosystems.

The occasion: C.2984

The DDL S.1552 was passed by the Senate on 23 June 2026, with 80 votes in favour, 56 against and two abstentions. It combines several bills and is intended to amend law 157/1992, Italy's previous foundational law on the protection of wild mammals and birds and on hunting.

Since 24 June, the bill has been before the Camera dei deputati under the number C.2984. According to the most recently documented official status, it is before the Agriculture Committee; it is not in force and still has to go through the parliamentary procedure, including final approval.

This distinction is crucial: the demonstration in Milan is directed against an advanced draft passed by the Senate, not against an already applicable new hunting law. Until a final parliamentary decision and its promulgation, the existing law 157/1992 remains applicable.

What is at stake

The reform does not merely intervene selectively in hunting rules. It changes the legal framework within which wildlife protection, wildlife management and hunting use relate to one another. The law would be explicitly geared more strongly towards «management», thereby politically and legally shifting the existing protective logic of law 157/1992.

Among the most contentious points are the expansion of huntable species, more flexible hunting seasons, new possibilities for hobby hunting on snow-covered ground, and a greater role for private actors in wildlife control. The draft also envisages changes to hunting operations, decoy birds and technical aids.

Point of contention	Significance of the draft
New huntable species	Among others, the greylag goose and the feral urban pigeon are to be added to the list of huntable species.
Coasts and beaches	The relaxation of the hunting ban on state-owned maritime land could open up free beach and coastal stretches, as well as other areas of the demanio marittimo, to hobby hunting.
Night-hunting technology	Night-vision and thermal imaging devices, as well as silencers, are mentioned in reports on the reform as part of a technical expansion of hunting.
Hunting in snow	For certain forms of hunting and areas, particularly in the Alpine region and for certain ungulate and wild boar hunts, exceptions to the snow ban are to become possible.
Private hunting operations	Hunting operations could be organised more commercially and, under certain conditions, be granted extended hunting seasons.
Wildlife control	In addition to authorities, regions could also draw on hunting licence holders, landowners, leaseholders and other private actors for control measures.
Wolf	The wolf would be removed from the special national protection list in Article 2. However, this does not automatically result in a general opening of wolf hunting, as EU legal rules continue to apply.

Coastal hunting as a symbol

The possibility of hobby hunting in coastal areas has become a symbol for the reform. It is based on the renewed opening of the demanio marittimo, the state-owned maritime domain; depending on the specific location, this includes free beaches, coastal strips, cliffs and other public coastal areas.

Precise wording matters here: it is not that every bathing beach automatically becomes a hunting ground at all times. The legal effect consists in the lifting or relaxation of a previous ban, meaning such areas can in principle fall once again within the scope of hunting regulation; the concrete application depends on the final legal text and regional provisions.

For animal welfare organisations, this is nonetheless a central attack on public safety and on the idea of communally usable natural and recreational spaces. The criticism is directed against a policy that would not limit hobby hunting, but rather further normalise it territorially and technically.

Resistance is growing

The announced demonstration does not stand alone. OIPA Milano has publicly stated that it will join the national march; the association gives its opposition to the hunting reform and to the Italian government's wildlife policy as the reason.

Resistance has also grown outside organised animal welfare circles. Wild beim Wild reported on criticism from science, environmental associations, the Church and parts of the political majority; questions also remain regarding the compatibility of the reform with European nature conservation law.

The dispute under EU law concerns in particular the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. Associations and media have referred to an opinion from the European Commission said to have critically assessed parts of the reform; however, without publication of the complete original document, this claim must be presented as documented criticism rather than a conclusively established legal finding.

Milan as a signal

The planned march links two levels: Lombardy's concrete hunting policy and the struggle over national hunting law. The demonstrators want to prevent a reform with far-reaching consequences for wild animals, protected areas, coastal spaces and the public use of the landscape from being passed without broad social opposition.

The rally on 19 September is therefore more than a day of action against hobby hunting. It is a public appeal to the Chamber of Deputies not to pass C.2984 unchanged, and to realign Italian wildlife policy with protection, biodiversity and scientific criteria.

Service

National demonstration march against hobby hunting
Date: Saturday, 19 September 2026
Time: 2.00 pm
Location: Bastioni di Porta Venezia, Milan