PETA Demands Fox Hunting Ban in NRW

Photos instead of firearms: The current Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, according to his own statements enjoys killing animals while hunting in his spare time.

He reportedly obtained his hunting licence as young as 16. On Tuesday, PETA wrote to the CDU politician asking him to refrain from hunting and to initiate a ban on fox hunting in NRW over the coming five years. The Greens had expressed support for this in PETA’s election questionnaires, yet the topic is not mentioned in the coalition agreement. To convey the message that animals should only be “hunted” with a camera, the animal rights organisation also included a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Shoot Selfies, Not Animals – Hunting Sucks” as a gift. Hunting as a “leisure activity” is incompatible with animal welfare – the animal rights organisation therefore calls for a ban on hobby hunting.

We urge Hendrik Wüst to take a critical look at hunting and to refrain from killing animals in future. Above all, NRW needs an amendment to the state hunting law that finally prohibits senseless cruelties such as hunting foxes, badgers and birds, earth hunting, and the training of dogs on live animals.

Peter Höffken, Policy Advisor at PETA

PETA points out that there is no “legitimate reason” – as required by animal welfare legislation – for the widespread killing of certain animal species, such as foxes, polecats, and many species of birds. Furthermore, hobby hunters regard some wildlife as competitors for prey or kill these beneficial animals purely for pleasure. In its current form, hunting involves numerous cruel practices, such as the use of live animals in hunting dog training and earth hunting. During driven hunts, up to 70% of wild animals do not die instantly, according to the Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare. With shattered bones and severe wounds, the animals often hide for days and die an agonising death.

Recognized wildlife biologists agree that from an ecological standpoint, there is no necessity for hunting. According to the renowned biologist Prof. Dr. Josef Reichholf, the near-extinct wolves do not need to be replaced by human hobby hunters, since natural regulation of wildlife populations living in forests occurs through environmental factors such as weather, food availability, and disease.

The canton of Geneva — where recreational hunting has been banned for 40 years — is just one example of this. Here, nature largely regulates itself. The result: high biodiversity and healthy, stable wildlife populations. Biologist Dr. Karl-Heinz Loske views hunting as nothing more than a superfluous hobby that serves to satisfy hunters’ desire to hunt. When he obtained a hunting license in his younger years, it quickly became clear to him that this had little to do with nature conservation or species protection. Today, Dr. Loske is a recognized expert in landscape ecology, for whom hunting cannot be justified from an ecological or moral perspective.