Hunters will be required to undergo annual safety training

Hunters who do not complete hunting safety training will be deprived of their licenses, announces the Polish Hunting Association, which will introduce such an annual obligation. This is a consequence of the analysis of tragic hunting accidents carried out by PZŁ experts.

– The team for safety analyzes and improvement appointed by PZŁ recommended accelerating work on the system of annual, mandatory safety training. Hunters who do not take part in them will be deprived of their hunting rights – said Zbigniew Michalik, head of the Hunting Economy Department of PZŁ, during Wednesday's conference of the Polish Hunting Association.

Michalik said that a solution is also to be introduced: suspension of a hunter who will be charged with violating hunting law. The decision in such cases is to be made by the hunting court at the request of the disciplinary spokesman.

PZŁ also announced that it had asked the Prosecutor General for access to materials collected in the preparatory proceedings conducted regarding a fatal hunting accident that occurred on November 11 this year. in Milejów in the province Lublin Province. A 68-year-old man was shot, and a 50-year-old man was arrested in the case. They both participated in the hunt.

– Pursuant to the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is possible for the prosecutor's office to grant access to entities that are not parties to the proceedings in exceptional situations – said Sławomir Szymański, PZŁ's representative.

As he added, the Association primarily wants to obtain access to the report from the inspection of the scene of the incident, materials from the interviews of all witnesses, as well as ballistics opinions and the results of the findings of the forensic medicine institute regarding the injuries suffered by the victim.

According to the information provided by Szymański, the hunting in Milejów was carried out legally, and the people who participated in it were entered in the individual hunting records book and had appropriate authorizations. – Currently, the disciplinary spokesman in Lublin is preparing a project to present charges against the accused – said Szymański.

In his opinion, PZŁ notices the problem of hunters' failure to follow safety rules during hunting. In an interview with PAP, the representative recalled that after the accident that occurred on August 17 this year. (in the Michów commune in the Lublin Voivodeship, a 60-year-old man died after being shot by a hunter in front of his house – PAP), the National Hunting Club appointed a team of experts to assess the level of safety during hunting.

– The team analyzed the circumstances of previous accidents. We have reached, among others: concluded that there is no connection between the accidents and the lack of mandatory hunter testing. The main cause of most accidents was gross violation of safety rules. They are clearly defined in the regulation on detailed conditions for hunting and, according to experts, remain sufficient. However, we clearly have a problem in the Association with hunters complying with these rules and it cannot continue like this – emphasized Szymański.

The attorney noted that Most often, safety rules are not followed by young hunters, as well as those with long experience who are “lost by routine”.

– Despite everything, the number of hunting accidents is decreasing, although there are more hunts and sanitary shootings than before. In the 1970s and 1980s, there were 60-70 accidents a year. Today we have about 10 of them, including 2-3 with fatal results, said Szymański

PZŁ also informed during the conference that inspections ordered by PZŁ are ongoing in hunting clubs that carried out commercial and foreign exchange hunts. This is the Association's reaction to the irregularities revealed in the report “Hunting for Money” broadcast in November by Polsat News. The authors' findings show that people without firearms licenses and experience could participate in commercial hunting, and the organizers charged participants tens of thousands of zlotys for the animals they shot.

The Polish Hunting Association is a social organization bringing together people practicing hunting. It operates on the basis of the provisions of the Hunting Law and its own statute. The tasks of the PZŁ include, among others: conducting hunting management, cooperation in the preservation and development of wild animal populations. Currently, the Polish Hunting Association has over 100,000 members. members. The activities of PZŁ are supervised by the Minister of Environmental Protection. (PAP)

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