For more information see the petition itself and this article from The Ferret.
To see what Decathlon themselves say, here is their Twitter account on this subject;
Decathlon look as though they are generally a force for quite a lot of good in the world – see here – and so I was inclined to regard this incident as an embarrassing slip-up. And the company looks embarrassed which is so much better than it looking shifty or defiant. But it is embarrassed because the truth has emerged and there is no suggestion that I can see that they are going to change what they do, just hide it better from the UK market. I’d never heard of Decathlon before, they just hadn’t registered with me, but now I think of them as that apparently nice sportsware company that slipped up by revealing that elsewhere in Europe it makes some of its money from promoting shooting of songbirds. Oooops!
I’d be interested to hear what in-store Decathlon staff know about this issue. I notice that they have a store quite near me and I will pop in some time in the next few weeks and look at their range of clothing etc (looks like they sell some good stuff, actually) but then ask some polite questions at the till. You might pass one of their shops sooner than I do – I’d be interested to hear any experiences you have. Here’s the map of their UK stores.
The Ferret quotes three organisations on this subject: the RSPB, Onekind and SongbirdSurvival.
The RSPB quote is barely intelligible and shows how poorly the RSPB performs on bird issues in the media these days. It’s unimpressive and that’s probably because this issue is in that difficult area for the RSPB where shooting thrushes really isn’t much of a conservation issue but is a welfare and moral issue and the RSPB doesn’t manage to handle either of those very well. The RSPB quote avoids the issue rather than meeting it head on and shows how much the RSPB needs to up its game on gamebird shooting (which this is, in many parts of Europe where blasting thrushes is on a legal par with blasting Pheasants here). My rating of the RSPB quote: 4/10 for seeming straight and relevant; 4/10 for looking like an organisation that has thought about this issue.
The OneKind quote is so much better because OneKind does not dodge the moral aspects. OneKind is perfectly clear about what it thinks and believes and is keen to tell us. Good for them. I thought that the bit of their quote about selling hunting clothing on the Decathlon website was a bit over the top until I then checked the Decathlon website by putting ‘hunting’ into the search engine. There is an awful lot of stuff from decoys to clothing there. I’d like to see all hunters permanently dressed, for all occasions, in the Solognac 3D furtiv camouflage trousers as that would make them easily recognisable and quite ridiculous. My rating of the OneKind quote: 8/10 for seeming straight and relevant; 9/10 for looking like an organisation that has thought about this issue.
And then there is Songbird Survival which appears to be under fairly new management, and whose Twitter feed is not nearly as toxic as it used to feel to me. And the Songbird Survival quote isn’t bad considering they are a small outfit with rather little expertise. They are outraged at songbird shooting which is interesting considering that they are supported by gamebird shooters such as the Earl of Leicester. My rating of the Songbird Survival quote: 6/10 for seeming straight and relevant; 5/10 for looking like an organisation that has thought about this issue.
This left me wondering a few things.
First, has Songbird Survival moderated its views or has it just become better at presenting a more acceptable face to the world? And then I thought whichever it is, Songbird Survival is a little bit ahead of Decathlon in its PR – it has either adapted to the modern world or adapted its brand to look as though it has.
Second, how big is the market for outdoor clothing solely for killing things for fun? And couldn’t I wear the hunting pullover for birdwatching and the nature and walking pullover for shooting things?
Third, why is killing wildlife described as sport?
So, sign the petition please but have a think about the issues too.
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Regards (hunting) clothing, the market is huge and has a strong coding system. But what i always chuckle at is (a) sporting /hunting clothing – go to John Norris, (b) rambling & wildlife watching go to Go Outdoors (b) lamping & poaching go to Sports Direct. All highly symbolic to us, but i bet nearly all of it minus the labels, zips and trims comes from the same factory(s) in Vietnam, Bangladesh or Poland. Of course it will be stitched together here, like Barbour, so it retains it’s premium.
I have shopped for footwear and coats at John Norris for years even sometimes trousers. I don’t want a lurid blue red or yellow jacket for birding. Shooting coats are usually more comfortable, nor have worn a Barbour or jeans for birding for what seems like centuries. My Current favourite coat was made by Harkila, Fleece by Snowbee, birding trousers by Cragghopper or Seeland, Wellies by Muckboots (but about to change they don’t last more than a year without leaking) leather boots Seeland. I also have some Paramo trousers but am not impressed.
I’m one of the (many) tight-fisted rogues that do my trying on in John Norris but buy it off Ebay. It doesn’t bother the ladies there, but one or two of the managers swanning about in ties with pheasants or salmon on them might give a disapproving sideways look. I do sometimes buy a few bits of clearance stuff. But my motto as ever remains – f*** em!
Decathlon pretty much own the market for sports equipment here in Portugal. Hunting songbirds is pretty big here and the Decathlon stores have an aisle for hunting gear and a separate closed off area where ammunition is kept. I’d expect that contains the cartridges listed here.
Would be very interesting to see whether a very large market, the UK, could influence the stores in a smaller country, Portugal, where hunting is still widespread.
There was a study about UK ring ousels some years ago with some sort of tag and they discovered quite a few were being shot on migration in southern France. I’ve heard that hunters waiting for passing birds in the Pyrenees will turn their guns on butterflies flitting by when things are slow.
I was working on the Vendange in the early 70s and thought the old farmer was salt of the earth. Then saw him coming home in the evening with a string of thrushes and a bif smile on his face and it shocked my idyllic rural dream. You can be sure there will be some other bye-catch along with Ring Ouzels (Waxwing?) and how many hunters don’t discriminant between Turtle Doves and thrushes and god knows what else. I find the whole thing sickening and no i haven’t eaten meat since the early 70s either.
I am glad you’ve found The Ferret, when they have an article in The National, it is always a good read.
I’ve not checked again recently but The Ethical Consumer magazine used to rate Decathlon very poorly so I don’t know about relying on what they say about themselves generally.
Auntie – that’s interesting, thanks.
Decathlon are a French company which probably accounts for why they think that shooting songbirds is socially acceptable and commonplace. Note that it’s Decathlon UK who are very sorry, not Decathlon S.A. the parent company. PR smoke and mirrors – nothing has changed.
The threat to birds migrating to/from the UK as they pass over EU countries such as France, Portugal, Italy, Malta etc etc requires far greater publicity and attention. Makes a complete mockery of the Birds Directive and a whole raft of environmental laws and protections. The shooters use the same pathetic tradition/heritage/identity arguments employed by UK shooting interests. You’re only a real man or patriot if you blast living creatures out of the sky with guns…
This issue goes a good deal further than most people might realise – France has actually been increasing the range of speciesvthat can be shotband boasts of having the longest list of any W European country – Why ? The extreme right wing vote – Le Pen – heavily linked to rural areas, and especially lagging rural areas where there is considerable disillusion at the decline in farming – bluntly, the way the cities through the food industry are draining value out of the countryside. Every great Lidl deal is snother farmer facing bankruptcy.
Sadly, the Decathlon text was probably translated accurately and put on sale where as far as I can see it is nciting criminal actions
Decathlon have done quite a lot to lower their environmental and social impact. The clothing industry is rife with environmental impacts and social exploitation which probably dwarf, but don’t excuse, songbird persecution. As already suggested as a French company they’ve inadvertently lifted the lid on some activities many find distasteful and unethical – amongst many thousands of lines. Their (and others) hunting clothing is often good for wildlife watching. Ethical Consumer can be useful but has tenous links with material evidence. If you want to be ethical then Paramo or Patagonia are your best bets, but I’d tend to agree that putting some pressure on Decathlon might help bring greater consistency to their corporate approach.
drDom – thank you for yur first comment here
I have never come across the word “Hunting” ever in my visit to Decathlon. I have visited them in countries such as Singapore, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. I use Solognac apparels for hiking. Whenever I go to a Decathlon outlet I usually find for “Wildlife Discovery” to find Solognac brand. Never have I encountered the term Hunting.