The Moscow government plans to pass a bill that would ban the hunting of small animals in the environs of the capital. The new bill would also protect the natural habitats of these animals, an area not currently covered by Russian federal law.
"Squirrels, hedgehogs, hares and other animals will be protected by law from town-planning as well as from irresponsible citizens," said Vera Stepanenko, chairwoman of the Mos-
cow City Duma's Ecological Policy Commission. A member of Stepanenko's staff said that the bill still needs several more hearings in the Duma, and will not come into effect until next year at the earliest.
The proposed law would be enforced by a series of fines. Any individual found deliberately damaging an animal's habitat - for example by burning vegetation - would be fined between 1,000 and 2,000 rubles, while companies and organizations doing the same would be obliged to pay up to 150,000 rubles. Hunting or otherwise abusing any of the small animals mentioned would lead to a fine of 2,500 rubles.
The move is especially surprising considering the overview of animal rights in Russia. Dog fighting, banned in almost every Western nation, is still legal and popular in many parts of the former Soviet Union. The Russian government still allows the hunting of polar bears for indigenous peoples, despite the fact that the arctic animal is at high risk of extinction.
The country also has a long history of hunting. Records of this sport in Russia date back from the 1500s, and the practice was popular amongst the emperors and empresses of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The suggested ban reflects measures taken by other European governments against the sport.
The 2004 Hunting Act made using dogs to hunt foxes, hares and other animals illegal in England. However, the act was met with a great deal of protest and many see it as impossible to enforce. The Scottish parliament passed the similar Protection of Wild Mammals Act in 2002, though this too has received criticism for its many loopholes.
Hunting for sport is also banned in Germany and Switzerland.
One expat fox-hunter told The Moscow News : "The hunting bill [in Scotland and England] was an illiberal and unrealistic attack on the rights of people in the countryside. I can not believe that Moscow is following suit."
As well as the bill, the Ecological Policy Commission suggested the founding of a chain of shelters across the city for injured or homeless animals. While animal rights group have praised the proposed "animal hospitals," some are more cynical. At the announcement of the planned shelters, one Russian journalist, who wished to remain anonymous, observed: "We do not have shelters for battered women in Moscow, but we do have shelters for battered hedgehogs."
By Theodore Merz
