The German Animal Welfare Federation clarifies that the “use” of foxes in enclosures is to be classified as contrary to animal welfare. Hunting dogs are prepared for hunting foxes or badgers in the enclosures, which is also contrary to animal welfare. On the one hand, the criticism from animal rights activists is due to the planned construction of a fox enclosure in Saarland on the grounds of the zoo in Neunkirchen and the use of the foxes that will be housed there in the future in a enclosure. On the other hand, a discussion about fox hunting has also flared up in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW): On 20 August, animal and nature conservation organizations in Olfen want to protest against hunting dog training with live foxes, which is practised there by a local association. Although the NRW state government issued a ban on fox hunting in 2015, this was immediately undermined by generous exemptions and lifted across the board in 2019.
“When used in the hides, one animal is trained or tested on another and when hunting at a den, one animal is chased onto another. Both violate Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act - especially as there can be no question of “humane hunting” in the case of hunting from a den. This cruel practice often leads to serious injuries due to fights between foxes and hunting dogs. Time and again, hunting dogs also die in fox dens, which hunters like to keep quiet about,” explains James Brückner, Head of the Species Protection Department at the German Animal Welfare Federation.
The German Animal Welfare Federation, together with its regional associations in Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia, has taken a clear stance against these enclosures, in which the dog has to track down the fox in an artificial den with several tunnels and chambers. “Even if the fox and dog remain separated by a fence, the procedure is very stressful for the foxes, which also have to live out their lives in small enclosures,” says Beatrice Speicher-Spengler, Chairwoman of the German Animal Welfare Federation Saarland. Irrespective of the criticized training methods, there is no ecological necessity and no sensible reason to shoot foxes or other predators at all: The population regulates itself, for example through disease, the available food supply and social structures that prevent excessive reproduction. “The threat and decline of ground-nesting birds such as partridges and lapwings, which hunters use to justify fox hunting, is primarily due to the destruction of habitats and food sources through intensive agriculture and road and urban development. The fox is simply being made a scapegoat,” says Christiane Schäfer, Vice President of the NRW State Animal Protection Association. Hunting is also pointless, as empty territories are usually quickly reoccupied by other foxes, according to the animal rights activists. The important function of foxes for the ecosystem is also often forgotten: they keep mice populations in check, which are not only undesirable in cities, but also for farmers.
