Shepherds storm Romanian parliament in protest over sheepdog law

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/15/shepherds-storm-romanian-parliament-protest-sheepdog-law

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So many unanswered questions in that short article.

 

When they mention limiting the number of dogs guarding the sheep, I am thinking that they are referring to LGDs. Also, not fully explained is why they hunters and environmentalists want to prevent the grazing of sheep at certain times of year unless they are overstocked and damaging the environment.

 

Regardless, I am impressed that 4000 shepherds convened at one place for a protest.

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From what I know of the history of Romania, they had a dictator for a long time who was a nut for hunting, especially bear hunting. There were hunts where he went to a high hide and beaters drove the bears to him. He killed hundreds. (He was almost as fond of murdering gypsies as he was slaughtering bears.)

 

“Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu loved to hunt bear. He loved hunting bears so much that he was afraid that if everyone hunted bears, there would be none for him to shoot. So he made bear hunting illegal, except for himself.

The folks at Curious Expeditions made a trip to The Museum of Hunting Arms and Trophies in Sibiu, Romania, and has more of the morbid (but fascinating) story of the Ceausescu and his hunting habit:

 

Nicolae Ceausescu was the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when a revolution and coup removed him from power (and life). Though he spent most of his time in power by running his country into the ground, it was a good time for the bears. An obsessive hunter, Ceausescu quickly depleted the bear population in his personal hunting reserve.

 

He couldn’t kill bears if there were no bears to kill, so he made bear hunting illegal for everyone but himself. Anyone who killed a bear would be fined the equivalent of an average two year’s salary. Ceausescu, meanwhile, hung hunks of raw meat in the trees of his hunting ground, high enough for only very large bears to reach. For Ceausescu, the challenge or nobility of the hunt was beside the point, he only wanted the biggest and the best bears skins. If the skins weren’t impressive enough, he would have them stretched to look larger. [...]

 

Ceausescu often herded his bears into specially made corrals, to make choosing and shooting the best of the bunch much easier. It is said that he once killed 86 bears on just one expedition, and over 400 in his lifetime. (One source put the number significantly higher, at a unbelievable 4,000.) Despite the overwhelming number of bears Ceausescu killed, it is because of his egotism and desire to be the only bear hunter in Romania that the population of bears is so high today.” from: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/01/24/the-bear-killer/

 

The hunting of game, especially bears is a lucrative industry in Romania. It brings in LOTS of money. See this page: http://www.huntercompany.net/Hunting-Program/22/EN/Bear-Hunting.html

 

I would take the “environmentalist” business with a grain of salt. Money doesn’t talk, it screams.

 

ETA - There is a depressing and engrossing discussion of the fate of the Romanian bears in

"_{Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind"}

 

_{I did a blog post with this story an more on the livestock guarding dogs in Romania. http://atpeacewithpink.blogspot.com/2016/01/romanian-livestock-guarding-dogs.html}

 

_{If livestock guarding dogs are seen as a threat to the bear-hunting industry, they will be legislated against.}

 

_{Sorry about the ragged formatting of this post. I had some trouble with the cut-and-paste bits, which played havoc with the font sizes.}