Spain’s animal rights party reveals new video of fox abuse

Spain’s animal rights party PACMA posted a 38-second video on Twitter on Friday showing a man freeing a fox from a cage, before hunters immediately start shooting at it.

“Hunters shut what appears to be a fox in a cage and let it out only to pepper it with bullets,” says the accompanying text. “Another ‘isolated case’ as the hunting lobby refers to it. Every week, a trickle of ‘isolated cases.’ In fact, they are dangerous psychopaths with a rifle and a license to carry arms.”

At the start of the video, a man teases the caged animal with a stick. When the cage door is opened, the animal makes a run for it, but is shot at by men armed with rifles who are waiting by the cage.

The release of the video, which has had 255,000 views, coincided with the launch of PACMA’s campaign against the start of fox-hunting season in Galicia. “Fox-hunting season in Galicia has started: hunts that hide behind environmental excuses, championships in which the only reason to compete is to kill. The hunters will be entitled to pursue and kill thousands of foxes in the countryside,” states PACMA.

As it notes on its website, PACMA is the only political group that opposes hunting, and it is currently demanding a nationwide ban. “No animal should die under fire,” say the group. “We will fight tirelessly until hunting becomes a crime.”

No animal should die under fire. We will fight tirelessly until hunting becomes a crime

PACMA

The animal rights group is preparing a report to send to the regional government of Galicia against fox hunts. “We are working hard to make it the first Spanish region to assign resources to protecting foxes instead of killing them,” says a source at PACMA.

Last month, a Spanish hunter who was filmed while he chased and tortured a fox was identified by the Civil Guard in the Spanish province of Huesca. The man, aged 35, is facing charges of crimes against wildlife.

And in November, animal rights groups and political parties reacted with indignation over a viral video shot in Cáceres province of 12 hunting dogs falling off a cliff edge, followed by the deer they were attacking.

English version by Heather Galloway.