Hobby hunter shoots horse: shortage of skilled personnel in the hunting ground

Mare confused with wild boar

In Oberhausen in the Ruhr area, a hobby hunter has once again accidentally shot a horse.

He is said to have confused the mare with a wild boar . The public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation.

"It was like murder," says the horse owner, weeping and completely distraught. She keeps asking herself how this could have happened. Her Haflinger mare “Edda” was standing in an open stable on the city boundary between Oberhausen and Dinslaken.

This is how she describes the incident from last week: At around 10 p.m., neighbours heard a loud bang. A hobby hunter who had been out hunting wild boar had been standing in a field, approximately 60 metres away from the horse. He had fired from that position.

Despite the darkness, visibility had been good. "You can see through everywhere, nothing is obscured," the woman says. How the hobby hunter could have confused the light blonde mare with a wild boar therefore remains entirely unclear.

Investigation into the shot horse underway

The shot apparently struck the horse on the lower jaw. The hobby hunter is then said to have refused to administer a mercy shot to the animal, as the owner alleges. Only a veterinarian called in much later put the animal out of its misery. The dead horse has since been buried.

District hunters' association refuses to comment on the case

The Oberhausen district hunters' association does not wish to comment on the specific case. It does, however, point out that a hobby hunter must verify several times before firing a shot: he must be able to clearly identify which animal he is shooting at, visibility must be good, and the animal must be capable of being killed with a single shot. If this is not possible, the hobby hunter must put the animal out of its misery with a mercy shot.

The Police Oberhausen and the Duisburg public prosecutor's office are investigating the case. Among other things, investigators have secured footprints at the stable in Oberhausen. Details are not yet available.

Community of Interests Wild beim Wild

The IG Wild beim Wild is a non-profit community of interests dedicated to the sustainable and non-violent improvement of the human-animal relationship, with the IG also specializing in the legal aspects of wildlife protection. One of our main concerns is to introduce contemporary and serious wildlife management in the cultural landscape, modeled on the Canton of Geneva — without hobby hunters but with upright game wardens who truly deserve the title and act according to a code of honor. The monopoly on the use of force belongs in the hands of the state. The IG supports scientific methods of immunocontraception for wildlife.