Hunting

These days hunting is presented to society as a “tool of environmental management and conservation”, which is economically and publicly supported by some administrations. Hunters claim to be “a part of nature” and argue that they are the only ones who really know what’s going on, therefore the only people able to manage it.

But the reality is very different, hunting has become an industry with enormous profits. It also boasts great privileges and a huge lobby which gives much more importance to its interests and its “hobby” in the hunting grounds than anything else. Society is evolving and this passion for the hunt is becoming more and more misunderstood.

Hunting not only has a huge direct impact on the species being hunted, but it is also the cause of a great many indirect consequences affecting other species and their habitat. Hunting kills more than 25 million animals per year, it causes large imbalances in ecosystems, it is a significant source of pollution, it feeds itself through farms which breed species later to be set free in order to be hunted, it is one of the main causes of overpopulation of animal and dog shelters (each year 50,000 greyhounds are abandoned in Spain), it greatly limits the rights of the rest of society, etc.

In Catalonia

• We are part of the coalition La veritat de la cacera that aims to identify and regulate the risks represented by hunting activity.
• We lobby the public administration about anything regarding hunting.
• We negotiate and meet with the competent authorities to propose alternatives the current land management methods.
• We look into the experiences of other countries and propose ethical alternatives to population management.
• We collaborate with other institutions to promote the application of ethical hunting measures.
• We are working towards changing the law which establishes the means of control of recreational hunting.
• We publish articles and reports on hunting and its many consequences.
• We offer advice to those Catalan town councils which approach us.
• We participate in awareness campaigns against hunting.

• Get informed through La veritat de la cacera of the real implications of hunting for people, animals and the environment.
• Help us by sharing the information and publicity we put out with your contacts on social media.
• Write to your mayor or your town council, letting them know how you feel about hunts being held in the local area.
• If you have been the victim of any kind of accident caused either directly or indirectly by hunting, report it to the authorities.
• If you work for a town council in Catalonia and you need information in order to get ethical population management projects up and running, get in touch with us.