'Orgy of blood and death': Hunters slaughter 450 deers, boars inside fenced cage in Spain
Spanish hunters are under fire for slaughtering 450 deers and wild boars mercilessly inside a fenced cage. This act of immense cruelty is being touted as something that bring "stability" to the region by those who organized the hunt. The slaughterfest of a-pork-alyptic proportions saw 450 animals being gunned down by a group of 70 hunters in a single day. Environmentalists are slamming the barbaric practice as an "orgy of blood and death."
It was an absolute bloodbath inside the fenced cage, where the animals were left trapped while the hunters shot their easy targets with impunity. What is more, each of the hunters paid around 1000 euros ($1140 approx.) to participate in the mass killing of deers and wild boars. This was not the first time Spain has conducted such events. Such mass killings of caged animals are in fact legal under the country's laws.
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The "commercial hunt" happened on the Los Posteruelos private estate in Villaviciosa de Córdoba, near the Andalusian hills. “It’s an absolute bloodbath, slaughter on a totally senseless scale,” Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the campaign against the slaughter, told the Independent. Participating sportsmen paid more than $1,000 to gun down 450 boars and deer as part of a commercial hunt. As the helpless beasts were surrounded by the fences of their enclosure, they had nowhere to go as more than 70 hunters opened fire on them like they were in a shooting gallery.
Animal rights groups came out in protest of this act, as soon as the images from the mass slaughter were circulated by news outlets. They said the use of fencing is unethical and condemned the hunt after images of the animals' carcasses were shared online. Each hunter killed around six or seven animals, a figure that is much higher than on an average day's hunt, they say. However, the president of the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation, Manuel Gallardo told 'El Mundo' that large-scale hunting is "necessary due to the overabundance of species."
Southern Spain’s peculiar curse is fencing. Every property, large and small, is surrounded with 8 foot fencing, making canned hunting possible and blocking the movement of wildlife through the landscape. https://t.co/2doDIweZS9
— Ben Goldsmith (@BenGoldsmith) February 7, 2022
Gallardo justified his statements by saying that the ritualistic display of the animals' bodies on the floor was also necessary for health regulations. He said hunting is essential not only for conservation but also for the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the region, saying it generates €6.5billion a year (approximately $7.4 billion annually).
Groups like the Ecologists in Action called the merciless hunting event, an "orgy of blood and death." Various organizations such as Animal Defense and the Environment of Córdoba has now demanded more information on the hunt to prove its legality. Two years back, a similar hunt on the same estate resulted in the deaths of 413 animals by 76 hunters. The campaigners said they 'will be raising its voice for the innocent being massacred'.
Recently, wild boar numbers have gradually increased across Europe with Spanish police reportedly receiving 1,187 phone calls in 2016 concerning aggressive poachers attacking dogs, pillaging cat food and even causing traffic accidents. As the numbers are doubling in recent years, pro-hunting groups say the practice keeps population levels stable.