Giulia Sottoriva's speech
Below is the PEC sent by the President of the Confederation of Italian Hunting Associations (CONFAVI) Giulia Sottoriva to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers: "As national President of the Confederation of Italian Hunting Associations, I take the liberty of bringing to your attention, whilst aware of the burdensome commitments that the Government is called upon to face on a daily basis, the situation which has arisen in some Regions of Italy due to the questionable methods with which the SOARDA Carabinieri (Anti-Poaching and Animal Crimes Operational Section) are carrying out control and surveillance operations against numerous hunters while they are carrying out hunting activities in compliance with current regulations . Although we are aware that investigations are being carried out on a hypothetical and not yet proven involvement of some authorized resellers of live decoys from livestock, we believe it is incomprehensible that honest citizens with perfectly clean criminal records are treated as potential criminals or subjects on probation . We note with amazement the enormous deployment of resources and personnel to carry out these investigations and checks, which are not always authorized in the fight against organized crime or drug trafficking".
Questionable methods
“Our Confederation hopes for a constant fight and repression of the hateful phenomenon of poaching but does not agree with the ways in which these special units deal with honest citizens, guilty in the worst case scenario of having perhaps recklessly but in absolute good faith purchased some decoys coming from breeding until proven otherwise with all the necessary requirements to be marketed. The failure to activate the capture systems that could provide hunters with the necessary live decoys to be able to carry out hunting from a stand has forced hunters to go and purchase live decoys from breeding, as required by law, from authorized retailers . If some of these authorized retailers have committed irregularities in the management and sale of these recalls, which still remains to be demonstrated, the blame must absolutely not fall on the shoulders of the honest citizens who purchased, we reiterate in absolute good faith, these recalls, receiving with them the required documentation certifying their legitimate origin. We agree that every law must be applied, respected and enforced, while applying common sense and the respect due to all honest citizens."
Clean criminal record
“We want to reiterate that the hunters are not criminals or drug traffickers but “A” series citizens with a perfectly clean criminal record otherwise they would not be issued a gun licence. These people deserve respect and above all they deserve to be able to peacefully exercise their Passion for which they pay annually huge government concession fees, regional concession fees, access fees to the Territorial Hunting Areas and Alpine Districts, in addition to the concession fees to use their hunting posts. We hope that the Government, through the competent Ministers, can intervene promptly, certainly not to prevent the supervisory bodies from carrying out their duty but to remind them that their first duty is to guarantee respect and dignity to the citizens who go to check ” (source: CONFAVI).