Pavia: fox hunting in Lomellina for the containment of the species which often carries diseases such as rabies; animal rights activists protest, "anger is just an excuse".
Fox hunting is now open in Lomellina: until the end of the month the hunters of the Dorno area are allowed to hunt for the mammal that is increasingly frequented in the Lomelline countryside. "Fox hunting began on December 9 - explains Pierfelice Begliossi, security guard in charge of the area - it is an authorized hunting activity, but you can only shoot foxes, otherwise you are suspended and you can no longer participate in the jokes ". About ten specimens have been killed to date: the danger of the diseases of which the fox would be a vehicle also drives the hunters.
"Being a canine, the fox is a carrier of anger - explains Begliossi - after killing, however, the special institutes make the necessary checks to understand if there are also other diseases such as mange that can be transmitted to humans". Hunting is organized no more than three times a week and the meeting point is always the sports field of Gropello. At 7.30 on Saturday the team, made up of a maximum of 20 hunters, leaves for the neighboring woods, Gropello, Villanova d'Ardenghi, Sommo, Carbonara, Cava Manara, the municipalities chosen to try to identify the specimens.
"It is already a success to kill some of them, they are very intelligent and it is difficult to find them - concludes the guard - fox hunts begin when the hare hunt ends and particularly skilled and fast dogs are used, given the proverbial cunning of the foxes ".
But the severe judgment of the animal welfare associations also arrives: "Rabies is a widespread disease in the north-east of our country, so it is only an excuse used to give vent to hunters - says Fausto Pistoja for Lipu - moreover it has never a real census of foxes, so hunters who say they want to kill them because there are too many do not do it on a scientific basis ".
"We should really review the issue of hunting not only foxes, but also hunting in general for the whole of Lombardy - comments Angelo Maggioni - there are no more territories where you can actually hunt and therefore you also shoot in the vicinity of houses, with all the safety problems it entails ".
22 January 2013
The Province of Pavia