Today the first pre-opening day with which the new Hunting Season officially begins in many Italian regions amidst controversies and animal rights appeals against hunting with the involvement of the Government.
Despite the incessant controversy of all kinds of animal rights and anti-hunting acronyms, including those invented at the last moment, the pre-opening Hunting Season has officially opened in many Italian regions; Lazio and Campani excluded the big ones due to the suspension decrees of the TAR following appeals presented by the WWF.
In order to stop the hunt before the opening, the various environmental associations turned to the government asking for an appropriate intervention that could, if not completely cancel the hunting season, at least postpone it by canceling the pre-opening in any case. The much-invoked intervention of the institutions, however, did not arrive, therefore the pre-opening will be held in most of Italy and certainly on September 16 the Hunting Season will officially open.
Precisely on the pre-opening of the hunt, although not actively acting on the issue, the Minister of the Environment, Corrado Clini, expressed his negative opinion, "Authorize the opening of the hunt earlier than today, notwithstanding the hunting calendar and despite the contrary opinion of the Ispra, as has been done by some regions, is a choice that I do not agree with ”. Continuing on the issue, Minister Clini then announced, "I am evaluating the possibility of introducing rules that avoid this unsustainable practice in the future".
Environmentalists protest loudly and the Italian Federation of Animal Rights and Environment Associations states, “Early opening exposes us to the risk of European sanctions. The wildlife heritage is not managed by pleasing the side-by-side lobby, the Italians should remember… ».
Continuing attack the environmentalists, "It is scandalous that the Regions have almost completely ignored the request of ISPRA to take" regulatory measures "for hunting to reduce the risk of serious damage to wild animal populations'".
The WWF then criticizes, "In order to satisfy that 1% of the population who takes the shotgun and perhaps groped to intercept its consent at the polls, politics does not hesitate to deny the evidence, including the drought of recent months and the serious damage suffered by territory and fauna ".
Immediate reply of the hunters, to speak is the president of Arcicaccia, Osvaldo Veneziano, who says enough with the “exploitation of the drought. Environmental associations are calling for drought in order to find an ideological argument to ask for a suspension of the hunt. ISPRA in its papers said that the suspension was valid under the given climatic conditions: tomorrow there will be rain, and it is good for Italy, for agriculture and for hunting ”.
The president of Arci Caccia recalls, “Among the now historical controversies we are at the opening of the Hunting Season, in a country that seems to want not to change and prefers controversy to collaboration. In other countries, environmentalists, farmers and hunters collaborate, documents on sustainable hunting are signed, in Italy we are in permanent brawl, and politics has much of the responsibility ”.
Finally Veneziano concludes, “The approach to hunting is one of the thermometers of the degradation of politics. We have witnessed yet another August of dramas. I preferred Totò's sketches, but in our country the politicians prefer to make them ”.
Thus the WWF counts two victories over hunters as following their appeals the TARs of Lazio and Campania have suspended the pre-opening of hunting in their respective regions while the Liguria Region has not foreseen the pre-opening period in its hunting calendar, but in the greater part of the Italian regions this weekend will go hunting with the limitations provided.