Killing of otters in Harstad – deputy mayor reacts strongly – NRK Troms and Finnmark

– It’s okay that this otter is injured, but it’s not okay that my own municipality is going to stone it in the middle of the city!

– Damn it, I’m pissed!

This is what Deputy Mayor of Harstad municipality, Espen André Ludviksen (Sp), writes on his Facebook page.

The statement comes after an otter was killed with a stone in the center of Harstad on Friday.

At 1pm on Friday, an otter was observed outside one of the city’s shopping centres, which quickly attracted a lot of attention.

Just a few hours later, the otter was killed outside the shopping centre. This with the use of stone, confirms Idar Kjøsnes in the search group in Harstad to Harstad Tidende.

– I haven’t seen the video yet, because I think it’s so terrible, so I don’t plan to do that either. I react strongly to their choosing to stone an otter in the center of Harstad with witnesses present, says Ludviksen to NRK.

It was iHarstad who first mentioned the killing.

– Not very smart

The deputy mayor reacts strongly to the way the otter was killed.

– I understand that it was damaged and had to be killed, but in this case it could have been done in a different way, he says.

Ludviksen points out that the otter, after it had been observed by passers-by, was fenced off. He believes it would therefore have been easy to lure the otter into a cage, and then take it with him, preferably to a vet.

– What signal do you fear this gives?

– It is not a very smart way to do it. If they had thought about it a bit, they would have realized that it should have been solved in a different way. They are doing their job, and I have a lot of respect for that – killing animals is not an easy thing, he says, before continuing:

– You have to be careful not to criticize them too much, but right here they could have been a bit smarter and done it in a different way. Then they would not have received the reactions they have received.

Hurt

Idar Kjøsnes in the search group in Harstad informs Harstad Tidende that the otter had an injury in one foot.

– It was unable to walk at all, so it was taken care of, he tells the newspaper.

If the otter had not been injured, it would have been taken to the sea, he says.

Regarding why the otter was killed with a stone, he answers:

– There are not many other ways to do it down in the city. It is significantly safer than using an exchange in the city. The main purpose is that it should not be tormented, he says.

If the projectile hits the ground or the surface of the water, it can change direction. This can cause danger to the environment.

NRK has not succeeded in getting a statement from Kjøsnes, who has submitted the criticism from Ludviksen.

Mayor: “Calm down”

In great frustration, Ludviksen sent a text message to mayor Kari-Anne Opsal and municipal director Børge Toft.

– The mayor ended up calling me, and ended up saying “calm down, we’ll look at this together”.

Mayor Kari-Anne Opsal confirms the phone call to NRK.

Ludviksen says that they will now look at a possible review of the routines.

– I hope you can have learned something from such situations, I also think it is good that there is an enormous amount of feedback on the matter. It shows that people get involved, and not least are fond of animals, whether domestic or wild.