'Nothing justifies hunting'
Op-Ed from Pier Giovanni Capellino

The campaign ‘Nothing Justifies Hunting’, strongly advocated by our Foundation, has personally involved me both in my convictions and in my philosophy of life.

My personal views on hunting are quite radical. I am firmly against it, to the point that I believe it should be abolished.

However, as President of Fondazione Capellino, I must take a moderate and reasonable stance.

Fondazione Capellino’s mission is to safeguard biodiversity and promote the Reintegration Economy, an economic model centred on people’s work. It doesn’t seek to create a revolution but to build upon what already exists and guide it progressively towards change.

In practice, through work and capital, we produce food that respects our customers, the dogs and cats who share our homes. The profits generated, once business continuity is ensured, are not used for personal enrichment but are dedicated to projects and actions that protect biodiversity.

Almo Nature is the tool through which the Foundation guarantees its economic independence. It was donated to the Foundation in 2019, an irreversible donation, forever.

The purpose of the petition

In keeping with who we are, but also aware that democracy means mediation and not domination, we believe the following. A law on hunting already exists, and hunters’ rights are already recognised, even by those who disagree with them.

So why ask for more? Why offend the sensitivity of other citizens, the large majority of whom oppose hunting?

We, the citizens who are against hunting, have become too comfortable and passive. The hunters’ ‘desire for more’ was about to pass before us without a democratic reaction.

The purpose of the petition is to stop, in the name of wild animals who have no voice, this attempt to expand hunting rights that the new law seeks to introduce.

Dear hunters, you already have your rights. Be content with them and don’t try to take more.

Politically, for those of us who oppose hunting, this feels like an act of arrogance. It doesn’t reflect, politically speaking, the sensitivity of the majority of citizens, regardless of party affiliation. That is, if we call can still believe that political parties are capable of solving anything, with only half the electorate not voting.

No one is free from contradictions

Almo Nature is itself a contradiction. It kills animals to produce food for dogs and cats.

All of society is a contradiction. No one is exempt. We humans must learn humility and accept that there is no absolute truth or absolute falsehood.

Almo Nature is a company that I founded at the start of this century, together with other partners. I could have sold it. Instead, after almost five years of reflection, as owners and employees, we decided that companies are much more than marketable goods to be priced, sold, and traded. When they are healthy, they must continue to exist to fulfill their social role and not merely private interests. In Northern Europe, this is called steward ownership.

With my brother Lorenzo, we decided not to sell it but to donate it to Fondazione Capellino. This allows it to evolve, progressively and independently, into a tool that, while remaining on the market, serves two higher goals: the Reintegration Economy and the protection of biodiversity, the very purposes of the Foundation. For those who believe in myths and conspiracies, I’ll add that we paid the donation tax and received no fiscal benefit whatsoever.)

Political revolutions have failed. They never kept their promises. That’s why we chose to evolve instead, without fear of acknowledging the contradictions that evolution entails.

To everyone, I say: do you have better ideas or practical solutions? Then propose them.

Hunting and the meat industry are two different things

Let’s not confuse them. Hunting is not a necessity. The meat industry, on the other hand, should be understood in its economic and historical context.

Although I am almost vegetarian, food and culinary traditions remain a source of cultural pride for many and should not be discarded. As the documentary Food For Profit shows, much about how we produce and consume food needs urgent rethinking. Every human activity affects biodiversity. Many practices, such as the meat industry, arise from attempts to meet collective needs, while hunting is a choice to kill rather than a necessity.

The appeal

Wildlife is part of our national heritage, protected by the Constitution itself. The Senators currently debating this new law must defend it. Expanding hunting rights serves neither the protection that is due nor the interests of the majority of citizens.

The Senate should reconsider.

And hunters should not see themselves as all-powerful. They should be satisfied with the privileges they already enjoy, without demanding more. That’s called respect for others, for the majority, who simply have a different sensitivity.

Pier Giovanni Capellino