The communication battle around a hunting party continues, especially on social networks.
Hunters and animal activists have been scaring since Saturday around the incident in Compiègne, in the Oise, where a deer took refuge in the city during a hound hunt before being protected by part of the population.
The images of the animal, panting, tongue hanging out, pursued by dogs to a construction site, are particularly shared since the relay of the association Abolissons la vénerie Today (AVA).
VIDEO. A deer chased by a hound takes refuge in Compiègne
While the latter ensures that the animal was "saved" thanks to "the mobilization of the inhabitants", this story was quickly accused of "propaganda" by the hunters, according to whom the deer was anyway already pardoned. .
Since 2019, the law obliges crews to spare their prey as soon as it "is near dwellings, adjoining private gardens, commercial or craft areas and offices and establishments open to the public".
" Lie "
"The boatswain or his deputy must without delay and by all means ensure that the animal is not approached", "do everything possible to remove the dogs as soon as possible" and facilitate "the movement of the dog. 'animal far from the inhabited area', writes the Environmental Code.
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According to the hunters involved, it is this rule, and not the intervention of the population, which would have decided the fate of the deer.
“We respect the laws, supports Alain Drach, boatswain on Saturday.
This association loves to make hay.
She makes images say anything.
To pretend that the animal has been saved is simply a lie.
Others, on Twitter, also denounce the supposedly watered-down narrative of anti-hunting activists.
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Contacted, Stan Broniszewski, of the AVA association, nevertheless maintains his version of the facts.
“This whole story of grace is just an element of language,” he accuses in turn.
Hunters claim that they pardon the deer, as a sign of lordly grandeur of soul, only because they are under pressure.
This does not prevent them from slaughtering their prey afterwards.
"
In 2017, the crew questioned on Saturday had been at the heart of another controversial hunt in La-Croix-Saint-Ouen, when a deer had been killed in the garden of residents.
Even if it was not yet, at the time, transcribed in the law, the tradition would nevertheless have wanted that the animal is spared because of its proximity to the dwellings.
Only, the hunters had been able to act with the approval of the gendarmerie, considering that the deer, at bay, was becoming dangerous.
"It was totally unjustified," protests San Broniszewski.
According to him, this outcome would demonstrate that this “so-called grace” does not ultimately prevent the animal from “ending up as a trophy”.