Report of the “Committee against Bird Murder”-19.05.

Right-wing populists in Lombardy kneel in front of the poacher lobby:
The right-wing “Lega”, which is in government in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, wants to soften the already hunting-friendly regulations for the protection of migratory birds with a draft law that has now been presented.

The main point of the amendment to the law is the abolition of controls on live decoys.
In migratory bird hunting – thrushes and skylarks can still be shot in Italy today – hunters are dependent on the use of live decoys.

Since bird trapping has been banned, hunters have theoretically had to resort to bred birds.
But the decoy traders often do not breed the animals, but instead catch them with nets or rob them from nests as chicks.

Tens of thousands of these birds then end up on the market with forged “breeding rings” – a mafia-like, well-organized fraud.

So far, committee staff and police officers have spent a lot of time checking these rings.
According to the will of the “Lega”, these controls are now to be prohibited – a free ticket for bird trapping and poaching!
The Italian nature conservation associations – in addition to the Committee against Bird Murder, LAC, LAV and the WWF – announced yesterday 18.5.

Protest actions started calling on the Lombard MPs to reject the change in the law.

https://www.facebook.com/Komitee.CABS/

A few more things on this subject: In Italy, hunting is still a firmly rooted tradition, especially in the countryside.
A total of around 600,000 hunters are registered. Italy has a licensing system, which means that hunters can hunt almost anywhere in their region.
The hunters mainly hunt birds and primarily target migratory birds.

Brescia – a city in Lombardy – is the heart of the Italian hunting arms industry.
Here there is one arms and ammunition factory after the other.

The right-wing populist “Lega” – avowedly hunting-friendly – has provided the mayor in almost every municipality for decades. Making politics here means, above all, standing up for hunters and the arms industry.

According to the organization “caccia il cacciatore”, there are 10,000 of these permanent huts for bird hunting for every 30,000 hunters in Lombardy.

“The decoys are caught and kept permanently in tiny cages. Their feathers are torn out to start a spring change that is not appropriate for the season. When the feathers grow back, the bird, which is kept in a dark cellar during the summer, says it is spring and sends appropriate signals to its conspecifics.
A caught chaffinch can cost up to 100 euros on the black market. “(Source: caccia il cacciatore).

Of course, it is legally stipulated which species may be shot, how many birds the hunter can kill per day of the hunt and how many decoys he may use. But who really wants to rigorously control that with the enormous number of hunters?

Poaching has an ancient tradition in Italy and, although officially forbidden, is tolerated especially if the prey is “only” birds.
In accordance with local customs, slings, nets, stone traps or bows are used.
But the big problem in Italy is traditional silence.
Everyone knows that neighbor A is laying traps with live decoys, but nobody would report him for it, because if you let him poach in peace today, he will let you “dispose” of the old refrigerator in the creek on the edge of the field tomorrow.

One hand washes the other is the motto, and the authorities – and above all the police – have to fight against this mentality.

My best regards to all, Venus

Hunting and pollution drove otters to the brink of extinction in the 1970s, but now they are back.

Their widespread return to our waterways is one of few recent successes for Britain’s beleaguered wildlife. Yet instead of celebrating the return of this beautiful animal, extremist anglers have launched a petition to have its legal protections removed.

Incredibly, the petition calls for the complete removal of all legal protections currently enjoyed by the otter.

Otter Cruelty

The petition is only the latest salvo in a long running anti-otter campaign by anglers who complain that otters take ‘their’ fish from waterways or fish farms.

In March 2020, for example, Dorset fishery owner Stuart Jones was jailed for two months after trapping and shooting an otter in front of horrified holiday makers.
Jones killed the otter rather than pay for otter-proof fencing.

No Laughing Matter

Anti-otter sentiment is rife in angling circles. Particularly unpleasant are the Predation Action Group, a lobby organisation composed of anglers and fish farmers.

Their hypocrisy is astounding: they breed fish – for ‘sport’ or ‘food’ – in filthy, cruel and cramped conditions and then complain when otters are attracted to this over-abundance of natural prey.

The PAG’s own ‘report’ reveals the grim nature of their activities:

“These are intensive operations involving huge numbers of fish, farmed in a relatively small area, being kept in concrete tanks or earth ponds.”

As if this was not bad enough …PAG’s patron is ‘comedian’ Jim Davidson!!!

Not funny: PAG patron Jim Davidson

Sound familiar?

This situation is analogous with what happens on grouse moors or pheasant shoots. An artificially high number of animals are bred to be killed and any potential predators are then ruthlessly snared, poisoned or beaten to death.

It is a certainty that anglers are already killing otters – just as gamekeepers continue to kill birds of prey.

Their petition just shows they want to do it with impunity.

Direct Action Against ALL Bloodsports

None of this surprises the HSA which has always opposed shooting and fishing, as well as hunting with hounds.

These activities are inherently cruel and cause huge environmental damage along the way.

https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/anglers-target-otters/

And I mean…Instead of killing defenseless animals, which are very popular in England, the anglers should buy their meat and fish from the supermarket – if it absolutely has to be meat.
Angling fish although they don’t need it to survive is a bloody sport, the otter needs it to survive, otherwise it will starve to death.

The Barbel Society Officers have recently launched a petition on the government website calling for the removal of the current legal protected status of otters.
This follows on from their 2018 petition calling for ‘non-lethal controls’ which was comprehensively rejected by the government.

The petition organisers should be honest. Their petition is a doomed call to the government to remove legal protection for otters so that they can be culled- what the hunters have been doing illegally up to now anyway.

That’s what the organisers have been calling for on social media and elsewhere and that’s exactly how it’s already being perceived by the public.
That means: what they will achieve is that hundreds of thousands of people will stand against this bloody sport.

We are confident that the government will refuse the legal murder of otters this time even more violently than the last one

My best regards to all, Venus

Statement by Martin Balluch (VGT, Austria)

Arthur was a big bear. It is said to be the largest in Romania and maybe even in the EU.
He was 17 years old for a bear in the wild. And very healthy!

How do we know? Because Arthur has been watched and looked after for years. Namely by the nature conservation organization Agent Green, which is also campaigning against the illegal logging of the last primeval forests in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania.

Arthur lived in the Natura 2000 reserve Oituz-Ojdula northeast of Brasov, formerly Kronstadt, away from human habitation.
A bear of his size has a fixed territory, so you know where to meet him. But Arthur’s whereabouts were not only known to Agent Green.
Another organization was targeting Arthur as well. Only was not a bear-friendly one, it was a hunting trip organizer.
They wanted a big bonus from a rich Western European snob for its kill.

Prince Emanuel von und zu Liechtenstein

The plan should have been something like this:

First, a farmer complains about a bear that is causing agricultural damage to him.
In fact, the mayor of Ojdula, which is on the edge of the Carpathian forests, says that in the summer of 2020 there were some complaints about a little she-bear with cubs.
Nothing exciting, and no compensation was ever paid. At the end of January 2021, a farmer from Ojdula demanded that this she-bear be shot because she was disturbing.
To do this, he writes a handwritten letter to the responsible ministry:

Agent Green visited this farmer. When his letter was presented to him, he said that he has written it.
In the further conversation it turned out, however, that he cannot read at all.
Was it just used as an excuse to get permission to shoot?
In fact, the ministry will issue one in mid-February 2021:

Emanuel Liechtenstein, who calls himself “Prince” and comes from the royal family of the Principality of Liechtenstein, but in  Austria lives in the Riegers Castle, receives this permit.
He is allowed to kill this “problem bear”, who even leads children, between March 12th and 16th, 2021.

The time has come on March 13th. Emanuel Liechtenstein shot a bear. Only it was Arthur:

Corpse of Bear Arthur

Continue reading ““Poaching with state cover”: Austrian prince kills bear in Romania!” →

A member of Manchester Hunt Saboteurs was nearly killed by badger baiters in the Little Lever area of Bolton last night.
The sab was checking on badgers when he disturbed a gang of five thugs digging out a known badger sett.
He was then set upon, viciously beaten, and left for dead.

It is believed that spades and other digging implements were used in the attack. When he came to, he was thankfully able to make his way back to the road and call friendly locals who rushed to his aid.

The sab is in good spirits but has sustained very serious injuries that will require plastic surgery and dozens of stitches to the head.

Badger baiting – which has been illegal since 1835 – involves badgers being torn apart by multiple dogs.

Typically, terriers are sent into a sett to attack the badger underground, while the baiters use spades and crowbars to dig down to the fighting animals. Once the badger is exposed, it is pulled out and set upon by larger dogs.
The badger suffers an agonising fight to the death and the dogs, too, frequently sustain terrible injuries.

Manchester Hunt Sabs commented:

“To say we are angry would be an understatement, but we are incredibly proud of the bravery shown by our sab last night. Thanks to him the baiters abandoned their plans and fled the area. This sett will be watched closely from now on.”

HSA Press Officer Lee Moon added:

“As hunt sabs we get used to violence from animal abusers but the savagery of this attack has shocked us. These baiters clearly intended to kill this brave man and he’s extremely lucky to survive. He has our admiration for his bravery and we’re frankly in awe that he was willing to put himself in such a dangerous position to protect these badgers.

Fox hunters, hare coursers and badger baiters are all cut from the same cloth. They’re people who daily commit acts of violence against wildlife and are equally happy to use violence against those who try and stop them.

https://www.huntsabs.org.uk/hunt-saboteur-left-for-dead-by-badger-baiters/

And I mean…The gangs are mostly working-class guys in their twenties. They use social media like Snapchat to organise digs and share pictures.

These people are very brutaly and guarded.
They don’t care if the animals they kill suffer; they’re just killing them for sport and fun.

What they are doing is just horrific.
To these people, killing animals is a sport – the more brutal, the better.

Generally badger baiters don’t take their dogs to vets with their injuries because that would be recorded and reported; so they stitch up their wounds themselves.
They are valuable dogs for hunting and breeding so they’re a commodity to them and they’ll protect the commodity but they don’t have any concern about the feelings of the animal.

And they’re quite happy to dispose of them once they’re no longer a useful commodity.

Those who are not afraid to brutally massacre animals also lose the feeling of humanity.
Hunting leads to bestiality and dehumanization

My best regards to all, Venus

Statement of the “Committee Against Bird Murder”:

The umbrella organization of the European Hunting Associations (FACE = European Federation for Hunting and Conservation) has reacted to our press release on the subject of lovebird hunting and never tires of justifying the shooting down of millions of threatened migratory birds.

In a letter to the British magazine “Independent”, which reported last week about our campaign against lovebird hunting in Italy, FACE President Torbjörn Larsson complained about what he believed to be “reputational reporting” and justified the shooting of lovebirds by saying that Hunters reportedly created “thousands of acres” of protected areas for the species.

We have summarized in an open letter to FACE why this claim is nonsense and why lovebirds must be protected from hunters across Europe.

You can find our statement (in English) here: https://www.komitee.de/de/aktuelles/presse-meldungen/2021/lets-face-the-facts-about-turtle-dove-hunting-in-europe/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-turtle-doves-hunt-kill-b1838163.html

https://www.facebook.com/Komitee.CABS/

And I mean…The president of this EU hunting association and of the Nordic Hunters Alliance, the Swede Larsson said in an interview: “Is it not usually the Hunters’ Association’s attitude that there should be as liberal rules as possible for hunting and then each hunter must decide for himself or herself whether he or she wants to hunt?”

No, it is not!
In today’s civilized society, there is no place for hunting.
Hunting is a hobby for psychopaths.

Because … what state of mind can I expect in someone who cowardly shoots an animal while eating or flying its flight routes, although he does not need its flesh and skin for life and then calles this as a “hobby”, “nature conservation”, “Species protection”, “epidemic protection” or “tradition”?

So .. and now the 7 million members of the EU Hunter Association must have something to shoot, so let’s go for lovebirds this time

The only reason hunting even exists is because a strong and ruthless political lobby supports them, who are hunters themselves.

Wherever you are in the world, that your bigger problem is the hunter law that makes it legal carry a weapon with no purpose.

In addition:  If you like shooting defenseless animals, nobody can damage your reputation. There is simply no more good reputation to lose.

My best regards to all, Venus

The Chemnitz fire brigade was called to an unusual mission on Saturday. Apparently a raccoon was in distress.
According to MDR reporters, the animal had been attacked by crows and fled to a tree, where it remained in shock.

Bildrechte: ChemPic

Residents then called the fire department. The comrades fished the raccoon with a noose from the treetop.
The animal was handed over to the hunting tenant.

The hunting tenant did not provide any further details on the animal’s whereabouts (!!)

Invasive species

The raccoon, originally from North America, has spread widely in Germany due to the lack of natural enemies.
“The small predator can decimate local populations of other animal species and is therefore on the Union list of alien invasive species of EU-wide importance,” says a publication by the Saxon Ministry of the Environment.

Raccoons are subject to hunting law in the Free State.

Captured animals may not be released back into the wild.
Only knowledgeable persons, such as veterinarians or hunters, are allowed to kill the animals.

https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/chemnitz/chemnitz-stollberg/waschbaer-chemnitz-feuerwehr-100.html

And I mean…First saved and then delivered to the executioner.
Something like that could also be called fascism

My best regards to all, Venus