Disproving arguments against hunting

Over the years, the main so-called "animal rights" organizations and political parties have intensified their efforts to criminalize and incite hatred against citizens who hunt. Year after year, they use the end of hunting season to spread a baseless lie that cannot be supported by comparative arguments. All of this is done to misrepresent what hunting truly is and to foster hatred among people unfamiliar with the activity.

These people's arguments are baseless, and we're going to prove it by debunking five myths against hunting that simply attack it.

1. Hunting destroys the rural world

Spain was born in its villages. The customs and traditions of our rural environment shape our identity and cannot be understood without hunting. Without those who revive the economies of our villages from September to March and keep our infrastructure in good condition year-round.

Hunters are the ones who know the countryside best, who love their animals the most, who keep the trails clear year-round, allowing them to reach the most remote places, who are concerned about the health of the mountains to prevent wildfires, which they invest more than €280 million in Spain each year, and who prevent the reproduction of species that overpopulate, are harmful to public health, and endanger road safety.

According to a study conducted by Deloitte for the Artemisan Foundation, hunting generates €6.475 billion in Spain and employs 187,000 people. This study also confirms that hunters are the group that invests the most money in nature conservation in Spain, after public administrations. Specifically, €287 million annually, which benefits all biodiversity. This translates into wealth generation and population consolidation in the desertified Spain.

When we talk about hunting, we remember the people who continue to maintain hope in many businesses in smaller towns, such as bars, gun shops, hotels, and transportation.

2. Hunting is not culture

Popular culture is defined by the RAE as "The set of manifestations in which the traditional life of a people is expressed."

There's nothing more traditional in villages than hunting. Remember the cave paintings depicting hunting scenes representative of the culture of that era, or the creation of the tools our prehistoric ancestors used to hunt? The art of buying and selling birds of prey, or the hunting centers that existed in many villages at the beginning of the last century, where hunters gathered to share and communicate the moments and joys of hunting.

This has been done for centuries and is the way of life for many people in rural areas, who hunt, share, conserve, and protect our country's rich nature.

3. Hunting mistreats dogs

There's a big myth among animal rights activists that claims more than 50,000 dogs are abandoned after the hunting season. Recent studies by Seprona and Affinity confirm this is incorrect, as dogs are born with hunters and are cared for from the moment they arrive home until their final days. They are taken to the vet, educated, and trained from puppyhood. You can find the best food for your hunting dog in our store; you can access it through the image:

These animals not only go out into the countryside and live happily in their profession. Many testimonies affirm that we hunters treat our dogs as part of the family: "My dog, apart from being part of my family, requires the best physical condition to carry out his activity. It's totally ridiculous to think that we don't take care of our dogs, when our benefit is that our dogs are mentally and physically well cared for."

4. Limits the rights of the majority of citizens

It would be completely absurd to say that hunting was accumulating complaints for blocking public roads and waterways. When a person wants to block a public road, they must submit a request and the corresponding authority must approve it. The riverbed is a safe zone, and hunting on that bank is prohibited. We also don't enjoy preferential access to public forests—quite the opposite. For example, hunters who hunt in a public forest hunt once a year and pay. Cyclists, hikers, etc., do so for free the rest of the year.

5. Hunting is not ethical.

For animal rights activists, the death of an animal represents an ethically insurmountable step. Their argument is that the environment regulates itself. This assertion, besides being simplistic, is erroneous and poses a very short-term danger if we want to maintain a proper balance in nature. Humans, as a fundamental link in the chain, have always been present in the natural environment, and hunting was humankind's first job and occupation, the first way of life they adopted. Hunters do not seek the suffering of animals; in fact, they do not need their death to be hunters.

In this video below, we show our vision of hunting in the way we do best as a producer: in an audiovisual documentary:

Author: María Balletbó