French MP proposes replacing hunt animals with robot copies
Robots could mimic animal behaviour and replace deer and rabbits in hunts to “end animal cruelty,” says MP Damien Adam, a member of President Macron's party.
LREM MP Mr Adam said the replacement robots could “reproduce the form and behaviour of the hunted animal”.
He will present his idea in the Assemblée Nationale tomorrow (October 8), in the context of a wider discussion on animal wellbeing put forward by the parliamentary group EDS.
Mr Adam said his suggestion “aims to create funds to assure the transition of hunting to new formats, such as hunting robot game.
“The development of this innovation will allow hunters, instead of chasing a real animal, to chase a robot that will mimic the shape and behaviour of an animal being chased.”
Idea mocked online
The suggestion has already provoked ire online.
LR MP Julien Aubert mocked the idea in a Tweet, writing: “The award for the most Terminator-like idea goes to Damien Adam, who wants to replace animals with robots. Hunting is not laser quest. I tremble at the idea of an electric rabbit or cyber-boar getting lost in a forest in the rain.”
Mr Adam responded: “I’m simply trying to take into account the well-being of the stag or deer chased for hours by a pack of dogs, while preserving the enjoyment for hunters and the economic ecosystem of this practice.”
However, Mr Adam himself has acknowledged his idea has only a “minimal” chance of being accepted by the government, and that it may come across as too progressive for some as - in his words - it embodies the ideals of a “start-up nation, and the caricature of a forward-moving Macronist”.
He says he will propose it anyway, as a solution to “end animal suffering”.
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