– It is an incredible relief. Finally, the Animal Welfare Act’s ban on releasing animals that do not make it is being respected. That’s what Siri Martinsen, head of Noah, says. She believes these animals face a painful death when they are released into the wild and used for training hunting dogs. The Norwegian Environment Agency refused release this year, but the Ministry of Climate and the Environment overturned the decision. Noah thought this was wrong and has now won in the Oslo District Court. Siri Martinsen in Noah believes this is the end of sending birds out for hunting training. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news Martinsen believes this is a strong signal to the ministry that the decision they made was invalid according to the Animal Welfare Act. – This ruling means that there is an end to this type of abuse of animals. The association of bird dog clubs rejects allegations of animal cruelty. – We are collaborating with Norwegian and foreign research environments to obtain new and relevant knowledge for Norwegian conditions, and will apply for a postponement of birds until next year as well, says manager Torstein Dehn. The association now has one month to decide whether they want to appeal the ruling. For now, they don’t want to. – The reason is that the permit, which was granted by the Ministry of Climate and the Environment, runs until 31 August. We will not have time to get a possible new decision from the Court of Appeal by that time, says Dehn. Tug of war over the animals The release of pheasants and partridges into the wild has received a lot of attention after news reported on birds that died. Bird dog clubs use the birds to train for grouse hunting and to hold competitions to choose the best bird dog. The owners of dogs that do well can earn good money. In May last year, the Norwegian Environment Agency said no to allowing the year-long practice to continue. The bird dog clubs despaired while Noah cheered. But the dog clubs appealed the decision and won. Three months later, the Ministry of Climate and the Environment overturned the decision from the Norwegian Environment Agency and agreed to the release of pheasants and partridges until 1 September. 7,500 birds could therefore still be set out to train dogs. In the recent ruling from the Oslo District Court, it is stated that it is probable that many thousands of pheasants and partridges will die of hunger or cold, or be killed by predators in the first period after release. The court believes that this entails significant damage to the welfare of the animals. The district court also decided that the dog clubs must pay almost NOK 90,000 in court costs to Noah. Culling or sale In February, the Norwegian Environment Agency warned the dog clubs to prepare as if permission would be given to release pheasants and partridges this year. But some birds have been released. Torstein Dehn in the Fuglehundklubbenes confederation says it applies to some of the smaller players, but he has no overview of how many birds have been released or where. The bird dogs’ association has around 15,000 members, and Dehn says around half of the private applicants had already decided that they would not release birds this year. The same applies to one of the three big bird dog clubs. However, the other two large bird dog clubs have around 7,500 birds that should have been released by now, he says. – They must decide whether the birds should be killed or sold. Now they have to contact the Norwegian Food Safety Authority about how this should be done, says Dehn.
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Full stop in the release of pheasants and partridges for hunting training – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
