FUR FLIES AS GERMANS CONDEMN CAT KILLINGS

[Animal 0]

The Montreal Gazette, Oct. 23, 2005

FUR FLIES AS GERMANS CONDEMN CAT KILLINGS
Katie Duke and Colin Freeman
Sunday Telegraph

They answer to names such as Fritzi and Schatzi rather than Tiddles or
Ginger,but as the success of Geliebte Katze (Sweetheart Cat) magazine shows,
German household cats have just as many adoring fans as anywhere else.

Except, that is, when they stray too far from the back garden - at which
point they risk the less friendly attentions of the German hunting
fraternity.

Now, after an animal welfare organization revealed that up to 400,000
felines are killed byhunters each year, outraged cat lovers are demanding an
end to a law that makes their pets fair game when more than 200 metres from
a built-up area.

The German Hunters' Association, a powerful lobby group which enjoys the
patronage of many senior politicians, admits that the claimed tally of dead
cats by the country's Association for Animal Protection is 'probably
correct.' It insists, however, that rare wildlife and valuable game birds
are at risk from escaped domestic cats which turn feral and need to be
culled.

Legally, their members may shoot cats, dogs or any other creature that is a
potential threat to wildlife as long as they are beyond the 200 metre zone.

But the nation's cat lovers, along with animal rights groups, claim that
growing numbers are simply shot for fun as other wildlife becomes scarce.

At present, 13 of the country's 16 different hunting federations are
recognized as nature conservation associations and can legally claim to be
killing cats to protect threatened species. The German Hunters' Association
said: 'The Federal Hunting Law only allows hunters to shoot pets that have
gone feral and are living in the wild. The majority of hunters follow this
rule responsibly.[/b]

Partout, ces salauds de chasseurs ont vraiment tous les droits !

[animo-aequoanimo 0]

Ils constituent une forte puissance. Ils sont nombreux mais, espérons-le, plus pour longtemps puisque la jeune génération est bcp moins intéressée.