Vitoria (EFE).- Many Basque hunters go to “emptied Spain”, to Soria and areas of Burgos, to be able to practice their hobby in the face of the obstacles they find in Euskadi.
This was explained to EFE by the president of the Basque Hunting Federation, Ramón Madinaveitia.
These obstacles are the origin of the strike that the Álava hunters have raised by refusing to continue with the wild boar drives.
This protest was already made in Gipuzkoa in 2019 and in Catalonia last year.
The Basque Country has always been a densely populated community, with numerous security zones in which hunting is prohibited due to its proximity to inhabited places.
Now add bureaucratic and insurance difficulties. For this reason, many Basque hunters go to the emptied Spain.
Basque hunters must pay damages
For example, the law obliges the hunters -the owner of the reserve- to face the damages produced by the animals during the hunt if they leave the reserve and cause damage to the agricultural exploitations.
This means that they have to take out more insurance.
Added to this is the “little understanding” that his hobby has among the urban population, which leads to “discouragement and abandonment” of hunters, explained the president.
For this reason, the Álava hunters have stood up and have decided to stop controlling large game species, such as wild boar, indefinitely.
The hunts “have a cost for the hunter and provide benefits for the whole of society”, by controlling the wild boar population, which would multiply without these hunts.
“In the end the matter is somewhat in the hands of the administration,” explained the president, since it is the one that could eliminate procedures.
On the other hand, regarding the Spanish Animal Protection Law that was approved this Wednesday by the Senate, Madinaveitia explained that it does not mean a big change.
It has finally left hunting dogs out, so the new regulation does not affect them.
The Basque Animal Protection Law approved last year does include hunting dogs, which it places in the category of “auxiliary companion animals”, which are those “selected” to help people in a specific activity.
By regulating them, Basque law does not question their use by hunters.
Basque hunters and the care of their dogs
For Madinaveitia, “the hunter is the one who loves his dogs the most. It makes no sense for them to accuse us of mistreating them.”
“There are hoaxes that we abandoned them when the season ends, and that they are seen wandering on the road”, hoaxes that the president of the hunters rejects.
First, “for the affection and complicity with the animal”, and then for practical reasons: “You are going to train it and prepare it so that when the season is over you will abandon it! And the next season, what do you do? train another?
Basque law stipulates that animals cannot be caused pain or stress, but hunting dogs and rescue dogs are excluded.
Madinaveitia explains the exception: “In 99 percent of wild boar hunts, nothing will happen to the dog, but it can happen. You have to make an exception because if not, someone could denounce you ”.
It is a case similar to that of rescue dogs: “if you do not make an exception, the fire brigade or the police could be denounced for putting the dog in danger when it enters a house to look for a trapped person.” EFE