Europe 1 with AFP 11:21 am, October 29, 2021, modified at 11:22 am, October 29, 2021

"I want us to be able to walk in nature". The environmentalist presidential candidate Yannick Jadot wants to ban hunting during weekends and school holidays. A measure that will not fail to cause debate while the hunters represent an influential electorate, a few months before the presidential election.

Environmental presidential candidate Yannick Jadot said Friday he wanted to ban hunting during weekends and school holidays, and impose stunning during the ritual slaughter of animals.

"I will ban hunting on weekends and during school holidays, I want us to be able to walk in nature," the MEP told BFMTV and RMC.

To justify it, he mentioned the many hunting accidents affecting individuals, taking the example of a "walker (Thursday) in Haute-Savoie, who was shot next to a cemetery".

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"Three quarters of people who live in rural areas do not dare to go for a walk on Sundays when there is gunfire, this is not normal," Yannick Jadot protested.

According to him, "70% of hunters come from the cities", while "rurality is the pleasure of landscapes, to be able to hike, cycle, walk with your dog without being afraid that he will be shot (qu 'we shoot him, Editor's note) at the end of the road ".

Hunting, which can only be practiced with a permit, is authorized each year during the fall and a large part of the winter.

The precise dates vary, however, according to the departments because the opening date is decided by each prefect.

A weekly day without hunting, every Wednesday, had already been imposed at the national level in 2000. But the measure was repealed in 2003, leaving however the prefects the possibility of establishing it at the departmental level.

Does Yannick Jadot want to ban ritual slaughter?

Friday, Yannick Jadot also reiterated that he would ban hunting with hounds and all "cruel" hunts, denouncing their authorization by Emmanuel Macron, in his eyes "under the influence of hunting lobbies".

Does he also want to ban ritual slaughter, used for kosher and hallal meats?

"Yes, without any ambiguity. (...) No tradition justifies making animals suffer", replied the candidate EELV. 

His entourage immediately told AFP that Yannick Jadot does not want an outright ban on ritual slaughter but asks that the animals be stunned before the operation.

"No misunderstanding about ritual slaughter. Each religion can have its traditions but no one can break the rules of animal welfare, in particular stunning," said the EELV candidate shortly after in a tweet, accompanied by a short video filmed at the exit of the studios of BFMTV.