PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO ITALIAN
HUNTING LAWS: THE NEXT PARLIAMENTARY
STAGE
The lower chamber of the Italian parliament will discuss the revised draft hunting law
bill on 14th March. It is important that we all protest against the adoption of this bill at
every stage.
A reminder of what this new law would mean for bird conservation is HERE.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO KEEP UP THE PRESSURE TO DEFEAT THE PASSAGE OF THIS BILL!
Send a mail or fax to the President (speaker) of the lower chamber of the Italian parliament.
He is perceived as being a proponent of a retention of the present law.
The more mail he receives, the stronger a case he can support for a rejection of the
draft chages by the lower chamber.
You can mail him direct via this link:
MAIL TO PRESIDENT PIER FERNINANDO CASINI
Or, for those those of you with a fax machine or computer-based fax facility,
sending the text below to the following number (in Rome):
+39 (code for Italy) 06 -6789139
(Do NOT remove the '0' from before the
'6').
A draft text is provided in English below; but if
you are able to send a personalised text, using the following main points, this would be better:
-
The number of bird species which may be hunted must be reduced and not increased and the hunting season must cease
befor eannual migration and breeding begins.
-
Prison sentences
must remain as a sanction for repeated killing of protected species
-
The keeping
of live decoy birds is cruel and unnatural. Under no circumstances should current regulations be relaxed.
- year-round training of gun dogs will disturb protected species and their habitats and lead to population loss.
- A change in the worse for bird conservation would affect the decision of many to visit Italy as a tourist - including
yourself.
- The new measures proposed are contrary to EU legislation and will bring sanctions and will have to be revoked, and
- as one of
the original signatories of the Treaty of Rome that founded the EU, Italy
should set an example to new members with respect to European directives
DRAFT TEXT
Richiesta intervento urgente per bloccare la proposta di legge di riforma della caccia
To:
President Pier Ferninando Casini
Speaker, Chamber of Deputies, Italian Parliament
Dear President Casini,
We are extremely concerned about the news that new draft hunting regulations have been
under discussion in the Italian government’s Agriculture Commission and are to be considered by the chamber of deputies
on in mid-March 2005. The draft bill as currently written seeks to alter radically the terms of Law No. 157 of 11th February
1992. This law deals with the standards for the protection of warm-blooded animal species and hunting. It is the only piece
of Italian legislation that takes account of all of the European Union directives and international conventions regarding
the protection of migrant bird species. Its retention, unchanged, is essential for the protection and conservation of many
European bird species.
A radical watering-down of this law, which is what the pro-hunting lobby wish to achieve
with the new draft law, would have far-reaching consequences. The proposals are:
- Anti-European, in that the populations
of 5 bird species, protected by EU regulations, would be put at considerable and unnecessary risk.
- Unsupported by any serious scientific
evidence or data which would justify the extension of the hunting season from August to February.
- Contradictory to the essential
central competence of the Italian state in environmental matters.
- Destined to weaken the battle
against illegal shooting and trapping of protected species by decriminalising
the most serious of wildlife crimes.
- Liable to nullify the gains for
the environment achieved by the enforcement of the 1992 law by permitting hunters far more freedom of movement; thereby allowing
them to concentrate their hunting activities on bird migration routes.
Italian and European public opinion are in favour of more and not less protection for
animals and the environment. Many now fear a permanent deterioration in Italian wildlife populations if the laws are weakened.
We urge you to use the influence of your office to ensure that the draft law is given
sufficient parliamentary time for full and serious discussion. The consequences are too grave and far–reaching, for
all Europeans, that the bill be considered in a short and cursory debate.
Thank you for taking the time to read this mail. In the confidence that you will ensure
that the matter is treated with the gravity it deserves we remain,
Yours sincerely,
(Name and country/address)
© Proact 2005
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