Animal rights activists stunned: farmer hangs dead crows on gallows - neighbor goes to the police

A farmer from Eurasburg hung dead carrion crows on a gallows. Local residents are appalled. But apparently he did not violate any law. 

• Farmer ties dead carrion crows to a gallows on the roadside.
• A neighbor finds the procedure "brutal" and goes to the police.
• Animal rights activists condemn the campaign and describe it as "tasteless".

Eurasburg - The man is outraged. "Three dead raven crows were brutally knotted on three gallows-like wooden poles in the field, " the Eurasburger, who does not want to read his name in the newspaper, told the editorial team in an email. "I find this way of dealing with animals completely unacceptable on a path used by many people who are looking for recreation in nature," the father of the family gives way to his displeasure.

The hung raven crows are said to keep fellow species away from the fields

The "gallows", where the dead birds dangle, stand not far from a dirt road that is frequented by walkers and cyclists. The dead crows are supposed to be used to deter apparently living conspecifics to peck the fresh seeds from the earth. The district office confirmed this on request: "Using this method, farmers try to fend off the carrion crows that are tampering with sowing or that could peck and damage silo bales wrapped in foil." According to the Wolfratshausen police , the action was on some viewers has a disturbing effect, announced by the Eurasburger farmer a few days beforehand.

This is also how it works in Switzerland.

Farmer hangs dead crows as scarecrows on https://t.co/ZKda3NrA5k

Animal rights activists are horrified by the farmer's action

However, farmers and bird conservationists have very contradictory views about the purpose . "We naturally reject this practice," emphasizes Sabine Tappertzhofen from the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV). “Even if crows are not an endangered species, you cannot kill animals without compelling reasons. Hanging them dead is tasteless, ”says the head of the Wolfratshauser LBV office.

Farmer lawfully shot the rooks

“There are still farmers who use martial means. It's not a pretty sight, ”says Dr. Manfred Fleischer. If the crows were shot in the past few weeks, there were also a number of violations. "In my view, this is a violation of the hunting law and a closed season violation. This needs to be clarified, ”says the chairman of the animal protection association Wolfratshausen – Geretsried and the surrounding area. According to information from the district office, the farmer shot the crows last year (this is allowed from July 16 to March 14), then frozen them and hung them up in spring. "So this is not a violation of hunting law, " said government spokeswoman Sabine Schmid.

Defense against crows is also different.

According to the police, killing the rooks is an "ecologically correct action"

Nevertheless, the farmer may face further problems. "This is probably an ecologically correct action," says Steffen Frühauf, Vice-Chief of the Wolfratshausen Police Inspection . "But after a resident officially reports it, we will check whether there is any criminal offense in any way."

At the beginning of the year, the police found a tied up cat in a sports bag. The animal torturers have now been caught. Animal tortures from Austria that have used a small cat as soccer ball have not yet been identified. In Ebersberg, a farmer was recently reported by the animal protection organization PETA because he is said to have mistreated a cow.