Arci Caccia Toscana and the provincial section of Grosseto in a joint communiqué committee reply to the accusations of animal rights activists on the initiative "Knowing the fauna of our countryside".
Joint press release from the Arci Caccia Regional Committee and the Grosseto Provincial Federation; dry replica by Fabio Lupi and Claudio Sozzi, respectively President of Arci Caccia Toscana Arci Caccia Provinciale of Grosseto. The LAV communiqué harshly criticizing the initiative "getting to know the fauna of our countryside" that the Provincial Federation of the Arci Caccia of Grosseto, in collaboration with the Tuscan Regional Committee, shared with the "Giovanni Pascoli" school of Gavorrano -Scarlino is, yes, strongly violent and completely devoid of any element of knowledge.
It would have been enough if the leaders of that Association had addressed directly to those who were able to attend this educational project (students, teachers, parents and school leaders) to learn from them how this initiative was anything but violent. What causes bewilderment is the degree of fundamentalism that permeates their stance, steeped in preconceived truths that have nothing to do with real knowledge of the matter. and which indicate, unequivocally, how ideological fury compensates for a total and disarming ignorance regarding the life of animals and hunting.
The Arci Caccia has never intended to organize these courses with the intent of intercepting new followers for hunting, but rather to make known to the younger generations fundamental aspects of the reality that surrounds them that a "Disney", urbanized and consumerist culture he has completely removed from everyday life. LAV skilfully rides this obvious truth to "smooth the hair" of hypocritical and moralistic feelings, thinking of promoting good feelings by humanizing the fauna. This operation is nonsense in all respects, starting with the philosophical one and ending with the technical-scientific one.
We do not want to disturb our scientific knowledge to let public opinion know how great the cultural heritage of hunters is, built with study, experience, passion and getting our boots dirty with mud, but rather reject with all the strength we have to available the attempt to represent the world as if it were divided in half: that of the "good guys" who love animals and respect nature (obviously populated by all those who think like LAV) and that of the "bad guys", who for pleasure and contempt for life are destroyers of fauna and the environment. This caricature, more than false, is simply ridiculous!
We also want to remind Mr. Bottinelli that hunting is an absolutely legitimate activity regulated by severe and rigid provisions of the law. To portray ourselves as promulgators of violent activity is extremely disrespectful of the legal system of this country. Finally, we think of advising the Coordinator of the LAV in Grosseto to read some good author who could facilitate him to find some lost serenity: Hemingway, Rigoni Stern, Maupassant and other great writers who have admirably talked about hunting would allow him to open the mind towards other horizons.
We also ask all citizens, individually or in an organized form (parties, associations, trade unions, trade organizations), to express a sign of solidarity towards the Headmaster concerned by the case and towards the local managers of Arci Caccia, affected by the project, as, first of all, honest and respectable people who carry out their business with disinterest and absolutely unrelated to any culture that brings violence.
Below we report the press release and the declarations of the Anti-vivisection League and other animal rights activists anti-hunt against the Arci Caccia school project to bring knowledge of Italian fauna and respect for the environment in Italian schools as to say of animal rights activists "It is unacceptable that hunters are considered environmentalists ":
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The antivivisection league of the province of Grosseto takes sides against hunting that enters schools. The “Giovanni Pascoli” institute, in Gavorrano-Scarlino, recently involved its students in a meeting with Arci Caccia as part of a collaboration that seems to have been going on for years, reaching hundreds of very young people.
Precisely in this regard, the Lav, which with the regional school office has a memorandum of understanding in place for the promotion of education in non-violent behavior and respect for animals, wrote to the manager Assunta Astorino and also for information to Angela Palamone, general manager Usr Toscana and to Elisa Amato Nicosia, manager of the school area of the Province of Grosseto.
“Unfortunately - these are the words of Giacomo bettinelli, Lav Grosseto manager and member of the national sector Lav Education - the practice of hunting, far from protecting the environment, is a violent and cruel activity. The Eurispes 2013 survey - continues the note - explains that the favorable opinion of Italians on hunting decreases (from 21,4% in 2012 to 19,9% in 2013), currently considered negatively in 80,1. , 20% of cases. The Pascoli institute therefore puts itself on the side of that XNUMX% more or less who still consider shooting defenseless animals a source of legitimate fun ”.
The Lav also mentions the constant decrease in the number of hunters reported by the Provincial Wildlife Hunting Plan: "The analysis of the hunting cards issued by the individual municipalities over the last 5 years - continues Bettinelli in his note - confirms how the decrease in the total number continues of hunters residing in the province of Grosseto. This drop, which in the previous five-year period was around 4% in the period 2005/2006 - 2011/2012, is about 10% ". A serious aspect of hunting that has always been stressed by Lav, in addition to the slaughter of animals, are also human victims. According to the data released by the hunting victims association, in the 2012-2013 season alone there were 21 deaths and 97 injuries in Italy during hunting trips (excluding accidents that cannot be traced back to the use of weapons). More specifically, in Tuscany the figure is one dead and 14 injured, including minors. In the province of Grosseto there were 3 injured. All in just 62 actual hunting days. The invitation of the Lav to the manager is to a "mature reflection in this sense" to "put an end to something that certainly does not go in the direction in which a school should move".
"It is unacceptable that hunters are considered environmentalists", The position taken by the Antispecisti Group of Grosseto is hard "Since 2004, Arci Caccia has entered primary schools, involving hundreds of children, with an environmental education project aimed at raising awareness of the animals and above all the role of the hunter - affirm in a note Mauro Leuci, Maurizio Paganelli, Daniela Malpezzi, Maria Cristina Pompa.
We find this initiative contrary to the school function which should instead educate to non-violence and respect for the weakest. How can hunters talk about environmental protection and animal protection? The rifles they use in their "sport" for what purpose are they used? Maybe to dig the earth? No, rifles are used to shoot and kill defenseless beings and it is unacceptable that they are considered environmentalists ”.
“We find this initiative contrary to common sense and absolutely uneducating - continue by the Antispecista Group. In fact, the hunter with the use of weapons causes the death and injury of millions of animals. It is enough to visit a Wildlife Rescue Center to realize how many protected and non-protected animals are rescued by ordinary citizens and treated in the recovery centers, after being injured by hunters. Furthermore, it is enough to visit the site of the Association of Victims of the Hunt to read the data of the hundreds of human victims, who every year make up this sad list of injuries and deaths caused by hunting. We don't believe in the role of the hunter who cleans the woods and treats the trails. Indeed, the hunter is responsible for the lead pollution (toxic and dangerous) contained in the cartridges and which is dispersed in the environment and in the cultivated fields, with the risk of ending up in food and therefore on our tables. How can the parties (PD and Italian Communists) continue to defend the hunting lobbies? Let them try to ask themselves why their "old" politics has been so badly hit in past votes. "
“We believe that the role of environmental education must be carried out by people who respect the environment and the animals that populate it and cannot, in any case, be carried out by hunting associations - they continue -. We also suspect that these Arci Caccia initiatives have the ultimate goal of increasing the number of future hunters. Therefore we invite the competent authorities to stop any form of collaboration with the hunting world and their associations ".
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(March 15, 2013)