Animal rights activists horrified

Hiker discovers trap with live bait

According to the RespekTiere association, quadrupeds such as foxes should fall into the big trap.

(Bild: Verein RespekTiere, Krone KREATIV)

An observant hiker discovered a strange trap in a forest in Braunau. He alerted animal rights activists and they were shocked: Live pigeons were used as bait. An investigation is now underway. However, a legal exception is even possible for the trapping construct.

"It really is just unbelievable. You can imagine the fear the animals are put in. They can't move, and then the mortal enemy is right above them!" Tom Putzgruber, chairman of the RespekTiere association, is shocked. An observant hiker called the animal rights activists because he discovered a trap in a wooded area in the Braunau district that seemed strange to him. Putzgruber then found a second one on site - both contained pigeons, used as live bait.

The smaller of the two traps is apparently designed for birds of prey such as hawks.

(Bild: Verein RespekTiere)

Net snaps shut
The animal rights activist suspects that one of the traps is designed for birds of prey such as hawks. The pigeon sits in it on the ground (see picture above). If a bird of prey lands on the grid above it, a net stretched all around it snaps shut and catches the predator alive. According to Putzgruber, larger quadrupeds such as foxes or martens should fall into the second trap, which also uses pigeons as bait.

What is clearly cruel and illegal for the animal rights activists is now also a matter for the criminologists: "We have received a complaint under Section 5 of the Animal Protection Act and have commissioned an investigation," confirmed Braunau district governor Gerald Kronberger on request.

Notification according to §5

The Braunau district governor's office confirms that a report has been received in accordance with Section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates the prohibition of cruelty to animals.

"Like a buffet for the hawk"
The police will now investigate whether and which of the two traps are to be classified as cruelty to animals. A bird of prey trap with live bait is legal in one exceptional case, says Christopher Böck, Managing Director of the State Hunting Association. Namely when the authorities have authorized the forced shooting of hawks to protect a farm.

Because: "Free-range chicken farming is like a buffet for the goshawk, because the chickens are on a platter," says Böck. For such a shooting permit to be issued, however, less severe means such as tightening strings to ward off the birds of prey would have to have been tried beforehand.