"As tough as my mother-in-law," jokes a hunter, pulling his bloody knife from the side of a wounded boar;
another leaves his blade stuck in the belly of an animal;
a third, camera fixed on the handle of a "spear", a sort of spear, takes long seconds in front of an animal hit by a bullet before drawing its weapon and sticking it several times in the side of an ungulate.
Here are some of the scenes compiled by the naturalist Pierre Rigaux in a long video published this week, which denounces the abuses of so-called “spear” hunting.
The little-known practice is however widespread when it comes to finishing wild boars.
“The images were shot in New Aquitaine, Occitanie, Burgundy Franche-Comté, Hauts-de-France, Corsica, pleads Pierre Rigaux, anti-Chasses activist.
This form of hunting maximizes suffering. In fact, it borders on legality.
If the stabbing is prohibited for the research and the pursuit of the wild boar, the code of the environment in fact authorizes the hunters to slaughter the animals fatally wounded and blocked by the dogs.
"It's not sadism"
It is, assures Willy Schraen, the president of the national federation of hunters, exactly this case of figure which one observes on the images: "I watched the videos, I will disappoint you, I see nothing of it. serious.
Each time, the animal is wounded by gunshot.
It is not sadism.
Quite the contrary, it is a question of shortening the suffering of the animal.
It's a bloody phase but it is necessary, he insists.
Of course, it's better to kill the boar with a bullet.
And this is the most frequent case, to be honest.
In 34 years of hunting, I have only seen him three times.
But when you hurt, you have to have the courage to kill.
"
The boss of the hunters insists: “In certain cases, there is no question of shooting, the dogs are too close.
You can be at the edge of the hunting area or at the top of a hill.
In these situations, each shot can become a stray bullet with risks for walkers, cyclists… ”Same speech in Drôme.
Rémi Gandy, head of the federation of the department, recalls the risks when one finds oneself facing a wild pig which fights for its survival: “Animals armed with tusks as sharp as razors.
Hunters die every year.
Broaden the recognition of animal suffering
Perhaps, some hunters filmed by Pierre Rigaux seem to take all their time?
"Not at all," answers Rémi Gandy. You have to assess the situation, you have to arrive safely on site, you can see the complexity of the situations, in rivers, below, there is no question of risking a bad blow.
Pierre Rigaux denounces him, a diversion of the law.
To finish off an animal which suffers of course, but for him “some hunters abuse the regulations by organizing all their practice around the
farm
, this moment when the wild boars are cornered in order to be able to kill them with a knife.
For the thrill, for the act of bravery even when the animals wounded by bullet, exhausted, harassed by the dogs, no longer stand a chance.
We see the pleasure and the passion for the knives in the filmed situations.
"
For the author of "No gun in nature" (Ed. Humensciences), hunters are not satisfied with simply looking for an animal injured by a poorly adjusted shot: "It is all the more simple, denounces t -it, that it is almost impossible to control this practice, it would take almost one agent per hunter.
And in the case of wild boar hunting, which is very abundant, there is a real laxity.
"He demands that the recognition of animal suffering be broadened:" The Penal Code in France punishes as an offense the fact of exercising abuse or acts of cruelty towards animals, but this only concerns pets or animals kept in captivity.
However, wild animals such as deer or wild boars also feel pain.
"
