Court allows boar cull to go ahead

A Haifa District Court judge said the city had tried to drive the boars away and had not succeeded.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Animal rights organizations have finally lost their battle to stop the authorities from shooting the wild boars that have plagued Mount Carmel over the past year, reports Yediot Haifa. The Haifa District Court last week rejected the Let Animals Live organization's request to continue the restraining order against the cull, saying the animals not only cause damage to property, but also frighten and endanger the public. According to the report, the Haifa Municipality and the Nature and Parks Authority last year decided to cull the animals, using authorized hunters to shoot them, after numerous complaints from residents on the mountain. But they were stopped by Let Animals Live, which succeeded in obtaining continuous restraining orders from the courts. The organization argued that rather than shooting the animals, the authorities should drive them away with other means, such as using chili pepper spray to repel them. But a Haifa District Court judge said the city had tried to drive the boars away and had not succeeded. "Considering the number of complaints the city has received from panicked residents who have encountered the wild boars, the decision to hunt them is correct," the judge said. The report said the animal rights organization is considering its next legal steps, but the cull is expected to begin soon.