30 DIED IN HUNTING ACCIDENTS THIS SEASON
30 DIED IN HUNTING ACCIDENTS THIS SEASON
(ANSA) - Rome, February 4 - Hunting accidents killed 30 people and wounded 87 others during the five-month season that just ended, the Italian Association for Hunting Victims (AVC) said on Thursday.
According to the ACV annual report, presented in the Senate by association president Daniela Casprini, 23 of the fatalities and 57 of those injured were hunters.
Casualties among general members of the public accounted for seven deaths and 30 injuries.
This year's dossier, compiled from media reports between September 1 and January 31, was unveiled amid outcry over a proposed move to extend the hunting season for birds.
A last-minute amendment to a government bill dealing with miscellaneous European Union matters last week would allow hunters to target birds throughout the year.
The bill, which would leave the five-month season for mammals unchanged, was approved by the Senate assembly but must still be cleared by the House.
Commenting on the AVC report, Senator Roberto Della Seta of the main opposition Democratic Party (PD) said the number of casualties ''would increase further if the amendment is approved''.
''All those on the centre right who want year-round hunting would be advised to read this list of hunting deaths and injuries,'' he said.
However, several key figures within the centre-right governing coalition, including Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo, have also spoken out against the amendment, expressing views echoed by another majority MP on Thursday.
''The pared-down numbers of the ACV make the devastating picture in Italy perfectly clear,'' said Deputy Basilio Catanoso, a member of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party.
''Extending the season or the areas in which hunting is allowed would be madness''.
Italy's largest association of hunters, Arcicaccia, also opposed the amendment, which it said would ''fuel fresh conflicts rather than heal existing ones''.
Returning to the matter on Thursday, Arcicaccia President Osvaldo Veneziano blamed the proposal for ''causing polemics and criminalizing hunters''.
He said not all hunters deserved to be ''tarred with the same brush'' and said his association was being unfairly criticized for a proposal that was ''entirely the work of politicians who created this electoral botch-up''.
Conservation groups, meanwhile, have described the amendment as ''shameful'' and promised a ''momentous battle'' over the issue in the House.
But some politicians said the proposal did not far enough, and accused its drafters of ''pandering to environmentalists''.
A joint statement by PdL senators Franco Orsi, Valerio Carrara, Franco Asciutti and Sergio Veltrella criticized part of the amendment requiring regional authorities to first obtain the opinion of the state's environmental protection institute, ISPRA, before setting local hunting rules.
They said it was ''inappropriate'' to ''force local authorities to ask for external views'' on matters that affect airport safety, ''threatened by bird flocks'', and farming, ''where certain species are causing enormous economic damage''.
Both Prestigiacomo and Tourism Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla have proposed alternative wording for the contested article, which will be debated in the House over the next few weeks.
Hunting is still a popular pastime in many Italian regions although the total number of hunters has fallen from about 1.4 million in 2000 to around 800,000 now.
Environmentalists say some 100 million wild animals are slain annually by hunters in Italy.
A recent Ipsos poll commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature found that 69% of Italians opposed hunting, 21% were neutral and 10% were in favour.
