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Why Are Wild Pigs Being Chased by Helicopters Again?
The hunters’ lobby has started a new campaign against the wild pigs on the private property of animal rights advocates.
There
is a very unique project taking shape in the region of Lower
Franconia in Germany: In collaboration with farmers who practice a
peaceable farming* and a foundation whose sole purpose is to support
nature and the animals, animal-rights advocates and
*: Peaceable farming goes beyond organic farming in respecting the unity and sacredness of all life forms and using no solid or liquid manure as fertilizer, or any other animal products.
This small paradise where animals, nature and people are learning to live in peace and harmony with each other seems to have become a thorn in the side of the local hunters. They can no longer go on a shooting spree through the countryside and indulge in their bloody hobby as they formerly were wont to do. Perhaps they cannot accept the fact that an animal they have in their sights can flee into the bordering lands of Gut Greußenheim, where it is safe from them.
And so, the local hunters’ lobby has formed a “fraternity” and are pulling in all their connections: (1) with officials of the Hunting Association – whose president is in the Bavarian Parliament, (2) with local authorities – whose head of the local hunting authority is a hunter, (3) with church functionaries – who have a favourable association with hunters in the good tradition of the Hubertus masses, and (4) with hunting-friendly journalists.
It
seems their goal is to bring an end to the paradise conditions
becoming ever more evident on Gut Greußenheim. At the end of 2004,
the local hunting authority at the Würzburg District Administrative
Offices gave the order for a helicopter “reconnaissance flight,”
allegedly to count the number of wild pigs on the property of Gut
Greußenheim. It seems they also ended up counting sheep and cows as
wild pigs in their use of a thermal imaging camera.
Now, approximately one year later, on Dec. 29, 2005, the head of the local hunting authority Mr. Oswald Rumpel, himself a hunter, announced a new campaign against the animals and animal protectors through his “mouthpiece,” the local newspaper Main Post. The article stated that Mr. Rumpel intended to send out a helicopter again, allegedly to count the population of wild pigs on the property of Gut Greußenheim, in preparation for a new shooting spree against the animals.
This helicopter “reconnaissance flight” took place on Thursday, January 12, 2006, in the afternoon – without forewarning or previous announcement. A police helicopter suddenly appeared flying low over the pastures, woods and farmyard of Gut Greußenheim – several times below the legal minimum limit of 100 m. and creating an infernal racket of over 90 decibels. As they flew over the pasture, a whole herd of cattle broke through the fence in panic. The helicopter circled for over an hour above the property of Gut Greußenheim.
While citizens must tighten their belts and city coffers stand empty, while money is saved on kindergartens and schools, in the interests of the hunters, public funds are generously tossed out the window. Official helicopters are put into service at the cost to taxpayers of several thousand Euro in an effort to intimidate animal friends and despite the fact, well-known among experts, that one cannot count wild pigs with thermal imaging cameras. This squandering of public funds is an embarrassment considering the thousands of victims of the earthquake in Kashmir. There, people are freezing and starving for lack of helicopters. And with the money that is being wasted here for the purpose of exterminating life, countless lives there could be saved.
Clearly, the
hunters and their officials at the Würzburg District Administrative
Offices were not satisfied with the decision of the Bavarian
Administrative Court on Janaury 14, 2005. In addition, the farmers
from Gut Greußenheim have since then applied to the authorities to
close their property
The arguments used by Mr. Rumpel through his mouthpiece, the Main Post, are just as false as they are insolent. As an example, he claims that an outbreak of disease via wild pigs is to be feared in the area of Gut Greußenheim. Interestingly enough, it was this particular argument that the Bavarian administrative court used as reason to stop the hunting authority’s intentions last year.
Another argument used, that the animal population is too high and causes too much damage, is just as false as it is perfidious. In the article from Dec. 29, 2005, it was stated that in the area around Gut Greußenheim the wild pig population multiplied explosively during the past two years. However, the alleged number of animals shot that rose from 79 to 254 within a year is quite low when compared to other areas of Germany and Bavaria, and even when compared to hunting grounds in the proximity of Gut Greußenheim. Recently, the Bavarian television station reported that in the surrounding area of the city of Lohr am Main, (a town about 35 km. from Gut Greußenheim) 30 wild pigs are shot per day, or up to 1600 per year (Nov. 17, 2005, program “laVita”). This would be more than six times the number claimed for the area surrounding Gut Greußenheim. But no helicopter “reconnaissance flights” take place there. Instead, a Bavarian Minister, Mr. Sinner, himself a hunter, supports this activity by working for a change in the regulations of the European Union, so that animal carcasses can be profitably used by being processed in butcher shops for the international delicatessen market. This has triggered a call for protests against the massive shooting of wild pigs from PETA, the well-known international animal protection organization.
The example cited above also demonstrates that the population density of wild pigs does not rise when they are not hunted; instead, it is the constant pressure resulting from hunting, the constant shooting in particular, linked with the massive feeding of the animals that is done by hunters everywhere, that leads to an increase in their population. And when Mr. Rumpel says that the wild pigs cause damage to farmlands, he diligently remains silent on the fact that through the sale of the animals they have shot down, the hunters bring in much more than the amount they allegedly have to pay farmers in damages.
Even the dramatic number of 254 wild pigs shot in 2005 presented by Mr. Rumpel do not justify his behavior. And this number loses significance when we realize that in order to raise the number of animals shot, the local hunting authority specifically suspended the legally prescribed closed hunting season on the hunting grounds bordering the land of Gut Greußenheim – even pregnant sows were shot. It was like the height of the tourist season in hunting among the wanton killers on the hunting grounds bordering Gut Greußenheim. And to offer enough target objects to the members of the hunting brotherhood who had traveled there, great quantities of fodder were put out to attract the animals.
By such methods, they were able to raise the number of animals shot and killed that is now serving as a pretext for Mr. Rumpel. The sad side-effect of this terrible shooting were the many wounded animals that suffered an agonizing death. The social structure of the wild pig families was ruthlessly destroyed, although every serious hunter knows that this indiscriminate shooting of animals is one of the reasons for the increase in the wild pig population in Germany.
The farmers from Gut Greußenheim have pointed out to the hunting authorities again and again the fatal consequences of this massacre – without success. Since by suspending the closed hunting season, the hunting authorities expressly conveyed their support of the actions of the hunters who joined together in a kind of “massacre brotherhood,” one can assume that the measures taken between members within and outside of the authorities had been agreed upon. Apparently they even speculated that because of the extensive shooting along the borders of the land of Gut Greußenheim, the animals would seek refuge on said property. Last year the flight of the helicopter was preceded by a particularly brutal shooting spree along the borders of Gut Greußenheim. This year, on the night before the helicopter flight of January 12, 2006, increased shooting activity was observed along neighboring hunting grounds and from the direction of the neighboring town of Hettstadt. Perhaps in order to record a higher number of animals on camera?
If the number of wild pigs has strongly risen during past years all over Germany, if such so-called agricultural “damages” are claimed all over Germany, if a larger number of wild pigs has been observed in towns other than Gut Greußenheim, why then, is Gut Greußenheim in particular focused upon, using all possible means to depict the animals as a danger to humans, thus preparing the grounds for a massacre of the animals?
Perhaps, because at Gut Greußenheim, another path is being taken in developing another kind of relationship with animals. Can their goal be to bring the peaceful coexistence between people and animals and nature into disrepute? Can it be they are trying to depict eradication of animals as moral, and respect for the life of animals as immoral? That it should serve human beings when the blood of animals is shed, is a claim that does not withstand the truth. It seems the local hunters want to continue to act against animals, whose life they covet, and against people who live on the farm and are then branded as criminals through such helicopter actions. Their “crime” consists of refusing to have animals shot on their own property and, of having applied to the authorities to close their property to all hunting. This is why the enemies of animals from all camps and using all possible means fight those who defend the animals against their lies.
As friends of animals worldwide heard about the incident on Gut Greußenheim last year, they asked us to keep them posted. This is how things stand right now. As we learn more, we will keep you informed.
Universal Life – The Inner Religion P.O. Box 5643 97006 Würzburg GERMANY
Tel: 0049-931-3903-265 Fax: 0049-931-3903-233
E-mail: info@universelles-leben.org
Copyright © 2004 - 2006 Universal Life - The Inner Religion. All rights reserved. Reproduction, copying or selling of any of the above material is not permitted without written permission from Universal Life - The Inner Religion, P.O. Box 5643, 97006 Würzburg, Germany.
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According
to the law in Germany, hunters are trained as a part of an
environmental effort to control the population growth of wild
animals and the damage they may cause to the land or the farmers’
harvest. This training is based on the fallacy that hunters are
needed to bring nature back into balance by killing the animals. By
law, hunters are allowed on any property to carry out their task
where they feel animals are endangering the eco-system.
This
action – which brought the idyllic life on the property into uproar
and panic – was followed by an order to kill 126 wild pigs within a
six-month period on the private grounds of Gut Greußenheim. The
threat of a monthly fine of 10,000 Euro was made if this order was
not carried out. This scandal brought into action animal-rights
advocates from all over Europe: Over 1000 letters of protest reached
the District Administrative Office in question and the
to
hunting. This set off an alarm in the hunters’ lobby of Germany. By
closing their property to hunting, the lie on which the whole
hunting structure in Germany is based would be exposed. Namely, that
in order to keep God’s nature in balance, the divine creation, it is
necessary to shoot down a part of His creation. Consequently, the
hunting authority of the Würzburg District Administration Offices
denied, in the first instance, the application of the farmers to
stop hunting, giving, as expected, rather specious reasons. Whereby
experience has long since shown that in regions of Europe where
hunting is not allowed, animals and nature regulate themselves.
Where there is no shooting, nature is in balance.