Finnish hunters suspected of animal cruelty in Estonia

Estonia's TV3 shows video of tormenting of wild boar

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A Finnish group of hunters on a trip to the Estonian island of Saaremaa has been accused by an Estonian animal welfare group of animal cruelty and violating the country's law on hunting.
      In a video shown on the Estonian television channel TV3, a Finnish-Estonian hunting party, who appear to be intoxicated, have caught a young wild boar, which an Estonian man pulls by the ears. The animal squeals and tries to escape, as the hunters' dogs attack it.
      The video was shot by one of the Finnish hunters. The chair of the Estonian animal rights association Helen Roosimägi said that there could be many similar cases.
      "We got the video when the organiser of the hunting tour, Wild Hunt, put it on its own website, and one person informed us about it. Now the video has been taken off of the company's site", she says.
      Jaan Ärmus of the Saaremaa section of the Estonian Ministry of the Environment says that the case is being investigated with respect to animal cruelty and the use of alcohol while hunting.
      According to Ärmus, the video was a compilation of three different hunts, and that the identities of the Finnish hunters will probably be established on Wednesday. The video can be seen on the website of the Estonian newspaper Postimees.
     
The leader of the hunt, Tormis Lepik denied all claims of violations on Monday. Lepik says that the event, which had the appearance of animal cruelty, took place when the dogs grabbed hold of the wild boar, and the nearest hunter was unable to use his gun, and had to grab hold of the boar by hand.
      The group included about ten Finns and six Estonians.
      Lepik said that hedid not know the identities of the Finns.
      Alar Aavasalu, director of Wild Hunt OÜ, would not identify the Finns involved.


Links:
  The video and a related article (in Estonian) on the website of Postimees.

Helsingin Sanomat