FRENCH ASSOCIATION OF HUNTING PACKS

Paris, 10 February 2000

Without attempting to give an exhaustive description of hunting in France or responding to all the questions being considered by the Inquiry presided over by Lord Burns, I herewith submit to shed light on the practice of hunting in France. The author is at Lord Burns' disposal to answer any further questions or to give evidence to the Inquiry.

Philippe Dulac
General Secretary of The French Association of Hunting Packs

FRENCH HUNTING IN 2000

The tradition of French hunting greatly relies on the use of hounds, as opposed to German hunting which forbids it. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that hunting with hounds of wood dwelling game (red deer, roe deer or boar) or indeed, those who are also found in the wood and in the open (fox, hare, rabbit), should be very well developed in our country.

Hunting with hounds is practised in three ways and of which the "chasse a courre" is the most spectacular.

1) Shooting with dogs has always been very popular. Of the 1.500 000 hunting licence holders, a growing number now hunt in woodland and one should bear in mind the decline in numbers of field dwelling game, provoked by the agricultural revolution. Nowadays, practically all woodland hunters are familiar with the use of the hunting dog. Several of them have dogs which they have bred and trained themselves for hunting. Others belong to the "societe de chasse", who use packs of hunting dogs for their woodland hunting days. Today in France there are in total several hundreds of thousand of hunting dogs - probably around 700,000. They belong to long established French breeds whose skills respond to the various hunting conditions in the different regions of our country (These breeds are Fauve de Bretagne, Griffon Nivernais, Bruno du Jura, Bleus de Gascogne, Gascons Saintongeois...)

2) Deterrage (also known as "venerie sous terre" - hunting underground), involves the hunting of underground dwelling game (in particular, foxes and badgers) with hunting dogs of a sma]l size. This type of hunting is also very popular in our country. Today, there are over 1,750 officially recognised underground-hunting packs and this number is steadily growing. They include at least 15,000 hounds, belonging to the terrier and teckel breeds.

3) Venerie (also known as "chasse a courre") consists of pursuing the hunted animal with only the use of hounds and not using any firearms. It is the most sophisticated form of the use of the skills of the hunting dog. At the beginning of the 215t century, it enjoys an unprecedented popularity in our country. Taking into account all the various animals hunted (red deer, roe deer, boar, fox, hare and rabbit), there are nearly 400 officially recognised packs. This number has been increasing sharply for the last thirty years and is larger now than even before the Great War. Today, the attraction exerted by this type of hunting is still growing and only the available space, which is the major obstacle, is stopping its expansion.

HUNTING ON HORSEBACK

"La venerie a cheval" or hunting on horseback, is practised by mounted huntsmen who use large packs (around 40-50 hounds for a red deer, between 20-30 hounds for roe deer, and 50-80 for boar). The object being to take large sized game in their natural environment with unquestionable means of defence. Today in France, there are:

38 packs for red deer
85 packs for roe deer
30 packs for boar

The number of red deer hounds is the one which has varied the least over the last hundred years. It would be difficult for it to grow as the relevant hunting areas are mainly already occupied.

On the other hand, the number of roe deer packs has experienced a considerable growth. It has nearly trebled in fifty years.

The number of boar packs was, for a long time in decline, before growing once more, thanks to the development of the species.

The radical change in the organisation of the packs has allowed mounted hunting to go through the 20th Century unhindered. At the beginning of the century, one man was responsible for each pack and he would also personally fund the organisation. By the end of the 20th Century, all the packs are now structured as organisations, whose members pay subscriptions. On average, red deer packs have at least forty members, roe deer packs have over twenty or thirty, and the boar packs have a number somewhere between the two. The cost of subscriptions for the mounted packs is generally between 10,000FF and 20,000FF per year (between £1000 and £2000), a cost which gives a lot of people the opportunity to hunt.

HUNTING ON FOOT

Hunting on foot is a relatively recent invention in our country. It has literally exploded over the last thirty years, because of its low cost and its charm. Practised by young people, it involves hunting on foot with packs of a relatively small amount of medium to small sized hounds (20-30 for fox, 10-20 for hare, l0 for rabbit). The quarry is then for animals much smaller than those hunted by mounted riders. In present day France, there are nearly 250 packs, comprising of:

80 fox packs
115 hare packs
45 rabbit packs

Hunting on foot really developed around forty years ago with hare hunting in open country or copse areas. Today, their number no longer increases in size, but they are renewed regularly.

Fox packs hunt in woodland or copse areas, in a very different technique used by the big English packs, due to the fact that there are very few horsemen. This form of hunting has developed in spectacular fashion since the 1970s.

Rabbit packs were the last to appear; they started up less than 10 years ago. It would not be surprising to learn, that prior to ten years ago their number was equal to the number of hare packs, because it allows a considerable amount of hunting for little outlay.

All the packs, even if they apparently belong to very diverse groups - like for example a red deer pack and a rabbit pack - are proud to belong to the greater family of French hunting. They practise the same hunting techniques, at least in principle. They use dogs which have the same instincts. They share the same traditions inherited from the six centuries of hunting history. They adhere to the same ethic established over the course of the ages. They thus possess a common patrony and practise a common art.

French hunting is administered by two associations which are closely linked and which do the same work:

- hunts are members of The French Association of Hunting Packs (l'Association Francaise des Equipages de Venerie

- individuals (practising or hunt followers) are members of the Societe de Venerie

The Association Francaise des Equipages de Venerie (French Association of Hunting packs), as a professional organisation, works to internal rulings which constitutes a code of ethics and which oversees its application. The "Societe de Venerie" (Society of Hunting), as a sporting federation assures the protection and promotion of our way of hunting.

Through these associations, hunting (with hounds) maintains very close relations with all French hunting in general, structured through the Federations Departmentales des Chasseurs (Departmental Federation of Hunters), regional unions and a national union. Hunting with hounds sits on the Councils of many bodies, both national and international. However hunting has always enjoyed a complete autonomy in the running of its affairs.

Hunting with hounds also liaises with the Societe Centrale Canine (Central Society of Canines) which manages dog breeds, and with the Federation Francaise d'Equitation (French Equestrian Federation of hounds and horses.

The "chasse a courre, a cor et a cri" (hunting with hounds), its traditional name coming from the old French, has always constituted one of our legally recognised ways of hunting. In truth, the kings of France always devoted a considerable amount of time to legislate hunting. The Revolution then turned this established order upside down. We had to wait until 1884 for a general law to be voted in on hunting, which is still in effect today.

For a long time, the laws applicable to hunting with hounds have remained very laconic. It is for this reason that in 1982, it was necessary to make clearer the legal cadre in which it exists. The Ministry of Environment thus issued a decree and a circular. These texts give a legal force, to a limited number of rules relating to the code of hunting with hounds. They institute a scheme of official authorisation for each pack who have to receive a certificate, issued under the advice of the Association Francaise des Equipages de Venerie. by the Departmental Director of Agriculture.

Certain types of game which are hunted with hounds (for example, red deer and roe deer) are subject to the "Plan de Chasse" (a hunting plan), instituted in France at the end of the 1 960's. In each Department, the governor gives an annual authorisation to hunters to kill a certain number of animals according to sex and age. As with shooting, packs are also subject to this authorisation.

POPULATION CONTROL

There can be no doubt that the species, whose natural growth can reach or exceed 30% a year, have to be regulated. If they are not controlled their growth can jeopardise the health of the woodland and the crops in it. The experience of the considerable growth of the ungulate species over the last twenty-five years in France, largely due to the implementation of a hunting limit, strongly backs this theory. If, one day, we were forced to stop taking deer, boar... a population explosion would follow which would not be tolerated by either foresters or by farmers. Indemnities paid by the official organisation of hunting to farmers would become unbearable for its financial means, and foresters would in turn ask for indemnities. No-one thus disputes the fact that there is a need for regulation in France. Hunting contributes to population control. However, it does it in a relatively modest way, because of the disproportionate relation between its capability to cull (on average, one kill for every two hunts) and the growing size of the populations concerned:

- for red deer, the global cull quota has gone from 5000 to 30,000 head; hunting accounts for 1,300, being a little under 5% of the total

- for roe deer, the global cull quota has gone from 50,000 to nearly 400,000 head; hunting accounts for little under 1000 roe deer, or 0.25% of the total

- for boar, the global cull quota has gone from 40,000 to over 300,000 head; hunting accounts for 400 boar, or just over 0.10% of the total

The figures are even less for fox, hare and rabbit.

Hunting has its place in the control of species, but it remains far from the principle vector that is reserved for shooting. On the other hand, the instinctive ability of hounds to sense the defects in a quarry, gives hunting an obvious superiority in the qualitative scheme of everything. It is the closest form of predation to that of the great wild predators (wolf, lynx...) whose reintroduction is recommended by ecologists.

HOUNDS AND HORSES

It is the hounds, their qualities and their action on which hunting relies. The hunters are thus extremely attentive to their packs (in terms of breeding, training and well-being).

The 400 French hunt kennels are occupied by hounds of a specific breeds whose natural abilities are exclusively devoted to the pursuit and capture of wild animals. They are called "Chiens d'Ordre" because the pack hunts as a structured collective, subject to instructions from man. Furthermore, one can note that these are the only dogs in the world which live as a collective.

Today, there are nine breeds of "Chiens d'Ordre", which together make up the 6th group of the dog genus. These breeds are perfectly defined: each possess a very precise standard which all the packs refer to in the conduct of their breeding. For the most part, these breeds are French (Poitevin, Billy, Fran,cais tricolore, Anglo-French tan and white, French black and white). However, for a long time, french huntsmen have been crossing their breeds with English hounds; this cross has produced mixed breeds (Anglo-French tricolore, Anglo-French tan and white, Anglo-French black and white). Recently, following the progression of hunting on foot, a specially suited breed has been created: the Anglo-French hound for hunting small game.

To conserve this canine heritage and to further improve its quality, the hunters formed the "Club du Chien d'Ordre". It is one of the breed clubs of the Societe Centrale Canine (Central Society of Canines) which, in France, places the dog breeds under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Club exercises its authority over 15,000 dogs and 3,000 new off-spring per year.

The sole purpose for these dogs resides in hunting: the conservation of this part of universal canine heritage depends on the continuation of hunting.

Huntsmen are also, for the most part, horsemen. In the majority of cases, they have their own horses and their own stables. However, the riders often put their horses in livery at equestrian centres, or they hire horses from equestrian centres. These 7000 hunting horses also contribute to the vitality of the French horse world. Hunting maintains an old equestrian tradition in this country, which is a little overlooked today: that of "open equestrianism". The French huntsmen hunting in woodland, in general, does not jump any obstacle. Their raison d'etre lies elsewhere: to follow the hunt which lasts on average from three to four hours, in the best possible conditions, in natural surroundings, and to give their horse numerous hunting seasons.

THE SOCIOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY HUNTING

The main strength of hunting in France for the last century, has been in the face of a world and a society which has considerably evolved to know how to adapt itself without renouncing its traditions. At the dawn of the 21St Century, modern hunting offers an image which is largely in accord with contemporary society.

Schematically, one can say that around the year 1789, hunting was the preserve of kings, large aristocratic families and of the country squires. Then it soared in the 1 9th Century, taking hold of the landed aristocracy and the grand bourgeois. The years 1870-1914 were a golden age, but the same characteristics were maintained, not without difficulty, around the middle of the 20th Century.

A new form of hunting was formed at the beginning of the 1960s, in a time of re-found peace and economic prosperity. The packs were formulated into an association of nearly 10,000 members, both subscribers and those working for free membership. The old, established families who contributed much to the strength and reputation of French hunting are, in the main, still represented and continue to play a major role. There are a dozen packs, in the main, managed for at least one hundred years by the same family. But at the same time the doors of hunting are open to the most diverse parts of French society which the strength of its traditions has allowed it to assimilate. Today the main draw for hunting is neither social nor financial, one must have a passion for hunting and accept to devote a great deal of time and attention to that leisure.

At the same time, hunting attracts a still-growing number of followers and admirers. One can estimate 30,000 devoted followers - in car, on bicycle or on foot - and 100,000 occasional followers. One should also note the one million people who participate in the 250 game fairs in the summer, organised by the hunts or with the anticipation of the hunts.

French hunting today is social. Hunts welcome the followers: they take part in both the meet before the hunt and in "la curie". They follow the hunt in woodland on all routes open to traffic, whether they be public or private. The continued reduction of working hours very much helps the followers to come hunting, not just on Saturdays. In the countryside, hunting offers a much appreciated distraction in winter. Around the larger towns where there are beautiful forests, citizens are fascinated to rediscover an ancestral way of hunting. This past time is free. It is not normal in France to ask for a fee from the followers.

For at least a century, there has always been opposition to hunting in France. Some are motivated by the desire for equality and the struggle against the "privileged". The recent evolution of hunting has largely weakened the current protestors. Others are found amongst the "friends of animals". In a country where 80% of the population have become urban dwellers, the relationship between man and beast has changed obviously, in the sense of applying to animals the ideas of a hedonistic society. At the same time, one does not find in our country, neither in the same way nor to the same degree, the strong animal welfare movement which one sees in Great Britain. The approach of a latin civilisation to this is obviously different to that of the anglo-saxon ideas.

Huntsmen refuse the philosophic arguments which support the bans against shooting in general and hunting in particular, which enemies to hunting would like to see. The balance of nature has always rested on dreadful conflicts between the species. That between the dog and its prey is much like any other. To want to ban hunting and to forbid man to put it into practice, encourages a false vision of nature and a restrictive view of the role of man in nature, as its control is one of his responsibilities.

In truth, if one observes in France today a huge public debate about hunting, it in fact rests on different idealisms. The Greens, inspired by a thirst of power, more than by a genuine ecological approach, show hostility toward hunters, thanks to an established and powerful organisation, who they consider have an excessive hold over the management of land and wildlife. They want to share this power, limiting what they refer to as the excesses of hunting. To this day, hunting with hounds has hardly entered into this debate on which the Press has expressed an abundance of opinion.

HUNTING AND RURAL LIFE

The urbanisation of France does not stop the fact that she has a considerable rural area, one of the largest of Europe. In fact, our country is the most densely wooded country in Europe. That is beneficial to hunting as our climate and topography creates eminently suitable conditions to practise it.

Nowadays, the evolution of rural areas has become a considerable pre-occupation. One must maintain a certain lifestyle in regions where this has tended to lapse. In a broader sense the concept of rural life has only surfaced recently with the realisation that the rural customs and way of life, inherited over the passage of time, represent values which a responsible modern collective defends and maintains. This is one of the aspects of a large, very sensitive movement in France, to return to the idea of patrimony and traditions - as if confidence and modernism is no longer so well-founded.

The swage of interest that one sees in large parties of the community for hunting is certainly fed by this evolution. The economic contribution that hunting brings to the rural world is though no means negligible, is by no means the determining factor. What works in favour of the hunts is the atmosphere which they encourage, gives a sense of life to the countryside.

HUNTING AND FRENCH CULTURE

One cannot ignore what hunting brings to French culture and heritage.

Of all the forms of hunting, it is undeniably this which has encouraged the most written word. For six centuries, a considerable number of works have been written by huntsmen who wish to compose and transmit their knowledge. A number of them enjoy a considerable notoriety and are seen as pieces of important reference. Many very modest works written over the course of time make up a huntsman's library, an important collective which has its place in our "National Library".

Elsewhere the French language itself owes much to hunting as the "Secretaire Perpetuel de l'Academie Francaise" (The General Secretary of the French Academy) states: "no human activity or passion has endowed the French language with such a great number of terms and idiom as hunting". Pierre Larouse, the greatest French lexicographer of all time, said himself: "far from relying on established language, hunting enriches it with many imaginative and picturesque expressions which have passed from the mouths of huntsman to the language of everyone".

Modellers, painters, sculptors and designers have, throughout the history of French art, found hunting to be a source of inspiration. Certain of them have practically consecrated their entire career to it. Even the greatest of names have deigned to dedicate often very wellknown works to it. If museums are full of examples of this natural alliance between hunting and fine art, the contemporary period is not lacking in new talent which maintains this tradition. There are several dozen working artists who dedicate all or part of their output to hunting.

Finally, French hunting has brought to music an all together original contribution. In inventing the hunting horn at the beginning of the 18 Century, huntsmen brought about a unique musical creation to the world, bringing thousands of pieces of music from the fanfares relating to various circumstances of the hunt to great works of the genre. This creation today remains absolutely alive. The musicians who play this instrument outside the hunting field have continued to perfect its use. They are found in the Federation Internationale des Trompe de France (The International Federation of French Horns) which is linked with the Societe de Venerie and number over 3000.

Our era seems to have taken a clear view on what hunting brings to our culture. The number of exhibitions, auctions, concerts, have never been so numerous and frequent. Over the course of the last fifty years, two museums have been set up in France on the theme of "la chasse", including hunting with hounds, and two additional themes have been devoted exclusively to hunting with hounds.

Association Fran,caise des Equipage de Venerie

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Date uploaded to site 1 June 2000