The Wildlife Killers: Hunting Switzerland Under the Microscope

Practically everything that is cruel, unnecessary, and heartless is promoted by hunting associations.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 28 January 2019

Every organisation has its faces.

So too does the board of the association Jagd Schweiz. An association whose members are involved in four-figure numbers of legal violations year after year. Dubious figures within this organisation have also entrenched themselves at the top level — those who, among other things, put pressure on IG Wild beim Wild, public prosecutors' offices, newspaper editorial teams, and others when the truth about the hunting racket is written. Wild animals in Switzerland suffer because of hobby hunters.

Or that individual who recently sought to make the cruel barbed hooks used in fishing socially acceptable again. Fabio Regazzi (CVP) also opposed the Nationalpark Locarnese and in doing so caused great harm not only to the people of Ticino. In addition to boosting the region's tourism profile, the National Park directorate estimated that 250 to 300 million francs could have been generated over the next 10 years through the creation of around 200 direct and indirect jobs. The hobby hunters preferred to continue waging war on wildlife, to the detriment of the common good. Or consider the dishonest intentions of the president, Hanspeter Egli, which are documented on film in this post. And Tarzisius Caviezel, whose search dogs poach and who is allegedly struck by hobby hunters.

Board and managing director David Clavadetscher of Jagd Schweiz

Time and again, actors from this board (Tarzisius Caviezel, Thomas Hüssy, Peter Zenklusen, Jean-Claude Givel, Franco Scodeller, Hanspeter Egli, Fabio Regazzi, Enrico Capra, Adrian Zumstein) from the association Jagd Schweiz and its management (David Clavadetscher via Sandona Gmbh) attempt to sabotage IG Wild beim Wild as well, by demanding in criminal complaints that entire articles exposing the tiresome activities of hobby hunters be deleted. For example, this article or this flyer. So far, the judges have largely not complied with the absurd demands to delete entire articles simply because individual words were deemed inappropriate and had offended the delicate sensibilities of hobby hunters. Since the editorial team of IG Wild beim Wild uses plainly true rather than flowery language in its documentation, we were handed a legally binding fine of 300.– francs for defamation by the judiciary in 2018.

IG Wild beim Wild deliberately employs an artistically combative style of expression — plain language, in other words.Plain language is nothing compared to the senseless, brutal, cruel violence and suffering that hobby hunters inflict on wildlife and people today.

Just because the victims of hobby hunters’ brutal activities are not 100% human does not mean, in the eyes of IG Wild beim Wild, that their actions are any less reprehensible. Furthermore, the actions of today’s hobby hunters also directly contradict several articles of the Swiss Animal Welfare Act, for example Art. 26 and Art. 4.

No one may unjustifiably cause an animal pain, suffering, or harm, put it in a state of fear, or otherwise disregard its dignity. Mistreating, neglecting, or unnecessarily overexerting animals is prohibited.

Wildlife has no voice and cannot participate in supposedly democratic decisions. We at IG Wild beim Wild act as advocates and guardians for wildlife, giving a voice to those in need of protection — in accordance with scientific and wildlife-biological findings.

Wildlife also has feelings and emotions. They can suffer, grieve, and experience joy. Like us humans, they live in family groups and social structures, which today’s hobby hunters largely shoot apart for fun.

For various reasons, IG Wild beim Wild recently filed a criminal complaint against this association, which is HERE available in summary form.

The association

According to hunters, dubious hunting associations also emerged in order to take action against predators (fox, lynx, wolf, and others) — their competitors for prey — and they continue to do so to this day. This is probably a main reason why hobby hunters are drawing criticism from all directions.

For good reason, the Swiss Animal Protection (STS) no longer speaks or negotiates with the militant organization Jagd Schweiz.

Hunting associations also consistently cultivate disrespect and a culture of violence — the exact opposite of what a civilized person in our society should aspire to. Hobby hunters even threaten civil war, should, for example, fox hunting be discontinued.

Evidently, these hobby hunters are neither well educated nor do they possess sound moral integrity.

Particularly when it comes to hunting and hobby hunters, it is essential that the public pays very close attention. Nowhere else is there so much manipulation through falsehoods and fake news. Violence and lies are two sides of the same coin. For decades, hobby hunting has been nothing other than a permanently costly construction site, a patchwork of problems and a source of conflict for politics, forestry and agriculture, administrations, the judiciary, health insurance funds, insurance companies, animal welfare, environmental and nature conservation organizations, the police, federal authorities, the media, and so on.

Any other organization with such a level of criminal energy would have long since been targeted by the federal prosecutor's office!

Current criminal offenses by hobby hunters in Switzerland are listed here: Link

The main spreader of fox tapeworm is not the fox itself, but primarily the intermediate host, the mouse. And these multiply prolifically — also thanks to fox hunting — and infect every animal that spreads fox tapeworm, including dogs and cats that are not regularly dewormed! In areas free of fox hunting, such as Luxembourg, the Canton of Geneva, national parks, etc., there has been no increase in this disease either. Foxes can, if necessary, be easily vaccinated through bait — something that has long been practiced in many urban areas. According to studies, hobby hunters even spread diseases according to studies through their shabby leisure activities!

Members of hunting associations have connections with representatives of power in general. Furthermore, they make use of violence or other means suitable for intimidation (fearmongering, propaganda, hunters' tall tales, etc.) in order to exert influence over politics, the media, public administration, the judiciary, or the economy.

It is not only scientific and wildlife biology facts that are simply swept under the rug by disreputable hunting associations.

For government game wardens, as with the model in Canton Geneva no reason to practice cruel hunting methods such as den hunting, drive hunting, push hunting, etc. There would be no abused hunting dogs. No unnecessary hunting of wildlife such as foxes. An alcohol ban in wildlife management would be established, etc. Sanitary and therapeutic culls carried out by wildlife rangers are not the same as regulatory hunting based on hunters' jargon or a misguided understanding of nature!

Hobby hunters always react reluctantly to common-sense initiatives. Animal and species protection advocates have contributed to greater wildlife protection in hunting practices — such as the abolition of steel-jaw traps or the ban on bird hunting with liming sticks, etc. Common sense has been and continues to be the driving force behind restricting hunting seasons and reducing the number of huntable species. To prevent the extinction of animal species, animal welfare advocates have imposed on hobby hunters a moral obligation to care for and manage wildlife. The ethics of hunters (if such a thing even exists) have traditionally always lagged behind the spirit of the times.

Since public prosecutors are heavily overburdened — in part precisely because of cover-up operations like those carried out by Jagd Schweiz — they have not yet been able to conclude their processing of the criminal complaint filed by IG Wild beim Wild against Jagd Schweiz. In the meantime, however, the managing director of the hobby hunters' association does not shy away from written acts of coercion.

…»We further note that neither the St. Gallen nor the Aargau public prosecutor's office has ever received a criminal complaint directed at Mr. Egli or Mr. Clavadetscher. Accordingly, we expect you to delete this reporting immediately.» This is the wording of an email dated 22 August 2018 from the abusive managing director, David Clavadetscher, of the association Jagd Schweiz, sent to IG Wild beim Wild.

A cantonal council candidate

In an email dated 11 September 2016, it is made unmistakably clear that the 2019 FDP cantonal council candidate from Aargau, Thierry Burkhart, is leading the unholy alliance as a lawyer in order to silence IG Wild beim Wild and make them disappear from the scene.

No effort is too great to manipulate democracy, freedom of the press, freedom of opinion, and so on.

As evidence (point 2) one example can be the demand by Jagd Schweiz to arbitrarily an entire article via a popular initiative that this association dislikes, because it exposes all the hunters' tall tales and shady dealings.

These people from Jagd Schweiz hunt, terrorize, injure, and kill defenseless animals – often just for fun or out of boredom. However, the hobby hunters cannot tolerate criticism of hunting.

It is the task of IG Wild beim Wild to give wildlife a voice, since otherwise they cannot defend themselves against cowardly snipers.

A few weeks ago, the association Jagd Schweiz once again filed an arbitrary complaint against IG Wild beim Wild for defamation – crying like schoolgirls – more on this later in another article.

The undemocratic conduct of the association Jagd Schweiz also contradicts the right to freedom of the press. In Switzerland, free expression of opinion still applies under Art. 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is precisely what is repeatedly disregarded in the criminal complaints filed by Jagd Schweiz against IG Wild beim Wild.

If reactions about the association Jagd Schweiz from IG Wild beim Wild exist, it is only because Jagd Schweiz constantly adds fuel to the fire and IG Wild beim Wild duly and responsibly documents this publicly.

Society has a public interest and a right to know about the actors from the circles of the cult-like acting association Jagd Schweiz.

And the fact that an ordinary citizen might occasionally lose their composure over the endless nonsense on the part of the hobby hunters cannot really be held against anyone. Especially since one personally gains nothing from it, but simply advocates for animal welfare, giving a voice to those who have none and who are the ones who suffer.