One thousand and five hundred rings to clarify. There are many new rings IOF relating to the last five years that Federcaccia Brescia had it analyzed by the company AQM of Provaglio di Iseo, a company specialized in dimensional measurements with Accredia certification, to understand what the real dimensions were at the time of use by the hunter-breeder. Why did we want to go down this path? Because we have decided to invest economic resources in a thorough metrological examination some rings? We have decided to do so because many of our associated hunters possessing live decoys have contacted us alarmed in recent months, claiming to have new, uncut rings, yet to be affixed to the calls. whose measurements did not correspond to the IOU tables, the Italian Ornithological Federation which, together with the AMOV, provides as required by regulation 16 of the Lombardy Region, the irremovable rings to be affixed to the chicks of the reared calls, supplied on behalf of the Lombardy Region itself.
The IOF correctly disseminated a letter in which the company producing the rings described not only the material the rings are made of, but also the dimensional tolerances of the rings, on the internal and external diameter and on the length, and finally advised which tools to use in case of dimensional verification of the same, for example not advising the use of the gauge. Federcaccia started from these data, that is from the declarations of the producer, from who makes the rings. We have therefore promoted a collection of new rings, never used in the whole province, therefore not from a single geographical area, and we have collected rings from the last 5 years identical to those today affixed to tens of thousands of live calls. We stopped at the figure of 1.500 rings because it seemed like more than enough as a sample and we turned to AQM, a company specializing in this type of measurement.
This type of initiative is a must, in respect of our members, when the correctness of the same is questioned: dozens of our members have had checks to verify the size of the rings of the live decoys, both during the hunting season and after . Federcaccia does not question the lawfulness of controls by the police Deputies to this service even if seeing a gamekeeper holding a caliber has a certain effect; what we cannot accept are the penalties imposed for a deviation of two tenths of a millimeter on the diameter of a ring. Anyone who tampered with a ring for any reason must be legally prosecuted and there is no doubt about this; but to sanction a shed, a hunter owner of live decoys for a dimensional deviation of a fraction of a millimeter frankly it seems to us to be wrong.
For this reason we have chosen to engage in an in-depth analysis work and the result was at least singular, to put it mildly. Out of 1505 rings 1117 were not compliant, that is, they are out of tolerance, for a percentage equal to 74%. We do not blame the producer or IOI probably they would never have imagined finding themselves in this situation, but we take note of this result and ask the Lombardy Region, which by law 157/92 must provide the hunters with irremovable rings, to find a solution. In Brescia there are probably at least 200.000 live calls? Well, in all likelihood 150.000 I'm out of tolerance. We do not believe that many comments should be made in the face of these numbers, they speak for themselves: a solution must be found.
And we don't think it will be a favor to the hunters, as some have written, if the officials of the DG Agriculture at Pirellone o the Regional Council will try to find a solution that on the one hand complies with the provisions of national law 157/92 and on the other protects the criminal record of hunters who unknowingly have put a ring "Not up to standard" on its own live call. As usual, we are confident in the good will and common sense of the regional institutions and officials. But from today a new way of operating by Federcaccia begins: we no longer accept supinely, we do not feel sorry for ourselves, we do not feel sorry for ourselves. From today, we will investigate every problem in a decisive way, technically, using the best experts, and we will react, with force, to every abuse and every injustice. This in-depth analysis of the rings issue made us understand many things and made us discover a new way to defend the rights of hunters.