Sign our petition

Bruno, the bear, is dead. Shot by a security team called in by the District Administrative Offices of Miesbach by order of the Bavarian state department of the environment. A program in Northern Italy to reinstate bears in the Alps caused this unexpected public drama when a young, two-year old bear took off heading for the North. By way of Austria it landed in Bavaria becoming the first brown bear in 170 years to appear in Germany. Unfortunately however, it was viewed as a problem because the young bear had no fear of humans. This seemed dangerous to the Bavarian government and the order to kill was given.

The indignation toward the Bavarian politicians, Prime Minister of Bavaria Edmund Stoiber and his Minister of State Schnappauf, is making its rounds worldwide. The word about the “barbarians” is going out (WELT Newspaper, Sunday, July 2, 2006) and many are calling the shooting an animal murder. (TAZ – Berlin Daily Newspaper, June 27, 2006)

The President of the World Wildlife Fund in Italy, Fulco Tratesi, spoke of a “barbaric act,” and the President of the German Nature Conservancy, Hubert Weinzierl, said, “In other countries bears and people are able to live together in peace. Only in Germany are bears liquidated.” (TAZ, June 27, 2006)

The head of the Munich Zoo, Hennig Wiesner, emphasized: “This bear never turned aggressive, and never attacked a human being. This shooting is an unbelievable act. It is a disgrace for Bavaria and a slap in the face for the Bavarian Animal Protection Organizations.” (TAZ, June 27, 2006).

The Franconia Post stated: “To kill bears is a crime against the Nature and Animal Protection Agencies; apparently, a handful of trigger-happy hunters, who were called into action by the District Administrative Offices, knew exactly where to find the bear. (June 27, 2006)

The Italien Minister of the Environment, Pecorario Scanio, demanded the delivery of the dead animal, stating that a bear that is “executed” in Bavaria should not be turned into a tourist attraction there.

And the tourists at the Bavarian vacation resorts could be heard saying: “We don’t want to vacation among murderers. We’re leaving – and never coming back!” (The Standard, Austria)

A reader of the MAIN ECHO of July 5, 2006, stated the following: “In reaction to the criminal execution of the bear, not even 5 hours after the order came to shoot the bear, two of my friends and I cancelled our membership of the CSU party. With this, we want to make a statement against the unimpeded actions of this unspeakable mixture of incompetence, inadequacy, hysteria and disdain of the will of the people, personified in the “minister of scandal”, Mr. Schnappauf. Over 70% of the population practically begged the authorities to spare the bear.”

The writer clearly indicates who was responsible for the death of Bruno. On the instructions of Stoiber’s Minister of State, Mr. Schnappauf, the police moved in and maliciously killed an innocent and still young animal. The words of Leo Tolstoy inevitably come to mind: “It is only one step from the murder of animals to the murder of humans.”

Are we being threatened by a revival of such times as 200 years ago when the bears were exterminated and the life of a human being was not worth much? The head veterinarian of the WWF, Alessandro de Goelme, referred to this relapse into the past as he said: “Germany and Austria seem to want to return to medieval times and put a bounty on all bears.”

Is a new medieval age threatening us? Stoiber’s attitude calls even worse things to mind. As a Catholic and adherent of Ratzinger, Stoiber believes that animals have no soul. This is the only explanation we can find for the prevalent treatment of animals and the actions against Bruno. We can credit Bruno for having exposed Prime Minister Stoiber and Minister of State Schnappauf as those who condone a hunting administration with medieval characteristics.

But Bruno is not an isolated case. Alone in Germany every year, 5 million wild animals, 4,000 to 6,000 dogs and about 40,000 cats as well as over 40 people fall victim to the murdering instruments of the hunters. The sacrificial death of Bruno reminds us of the suffering and torment of these animals. Not to be forgotten are the millions of animals kept imprisoned in the jail-like barns and slaughterhouses of factory farming and the millions of animals in experimental laboratories. Their suffering and torment must finally come to an end!

Now is the time to do something –

You, we, can bring an end

to the hunting administration of Edmund Stoiber

with its hunting in fields and woods,

with the brutality in the barns,

slaughterhouses and laboratories.

Support this petition with your signature!

This, too, takes place in Stoiber's hunting administration: