Four Paws Protest Action Against Celebrity Hunt In Transylvania

Activists call on the event’s host Mr Ion Tiriac to play tennis instead of killing animals.

Balc, Romania – 21 January 2012. Activists of the international animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS symbolically blocked the entrance to the annual VIP-hunting event hosted by business tycoon Ion Tiriac. Activists from the UK, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Romania played tennis in front of the entrance to the hunting enclosure. With the action they called on the hunting guests to exchange the guns for tennis racquets and stop killing animals for fun.

The activists revealed a 6 metre banner with the message “STOP KILLING! PLAY TENNIS”. The message was an invitation to the guests to try the game of tennis instead of killing animals. The message is addressed to Ion Tiriac who has hosted this annual hunting session since 2005. He is a former successful international tennis player. At least 1400 wild boars have been killed at Balc in the previous hunting sessions.

“Today we want to highlight that killing animals for pleasure is unacceptable in the 21st century. As the former sportsman Mr. Tiriac is aware, fair play within sports is essential. All the animals at Balc are enclosed with no chance of escape. Therefore this is not fair play. We call on the Romanian Ministry of Environment and Forestry to ban hunting of wild animals in captivity”, said Angelique Davies, head of programs at FOUR PAWS in London.

Several notorious international and national corporate VIP’s have lined up to attend the event over the years. Previously the guest list has included top businessmen such as Wolfgang Porsche, Klaus Mangold (DaimlerChrysler), Franz Rauch, the former tennis player Boris Becker, Elan Schwartzenberg, George Marsan (city major of Monte Carlo), Erich Hampel (Unicredit Bank Austria), Alfred Baumhauer (fabricant Cartier), Siegfried Wolf (Magna Europe), Rudolf Streicher (former Austrian Minister), Inigo Herrera. Also former Romanian politicians have attended this hunting event in the past.

“We are concerned that many animals may often be shot but not killed instantly and they are left to suffer a slow and painful death. The Balc event does not respect any ethical or animal welfare principles. We believe that the time has come for Mr. Tiriac and his guests to look for ethical and nonviolent settings for such business events. We urge Mr. Tiriac to give tennis lessons rather than promoting blood sports”, said Angelique Davies, head of programs at FOUR PAWS in London.

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