L
LOCKMAN
Guest
If this passes don't expect them to stop there. The same people that are pushing for this, have made it clear that they oppose hunting in general. This is strait from RGJ.com
Opponents of Nevada?s controversial bear hunt are seeking new regulations banning the use of dogs to chase down bears, a practice they describe as cruel and unnecessary.
A petition seeking the change, submitted by a coalition of organized foes of the bear hunt and animal welfare groups, is scheduled to be considered by the Nevada Wildlife Commission when it meets in Reno on Dec. 7.
?It does not honor the ethics of fair chase,? Kathryn Bricker, executive director of NoBearHuntNV.org, said of the use of trained hounds during a bear hunt.
Bricker?s group filed the petition along with Nevada Political Action for Animals, the Bear League, the Nevada Humane Society, Humane Society for the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Next week?s discussion comes after California lawmakers earlier this year passed a law to ban the use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats, a move Bricker characterized as one reflecting growing public sentiment across the country.
?The public feels this is one of the more egregious methods of hunting,? Bricker said. ?Hunting with hounds is not necessary. It is simply to satisfy the desires of hunters who want to use them.?
Marcial Evertson, secretary of the Nevada Houndsmen Association, was not prepared to discuss the proposal in detail but said it will face opposition by members of his organization.
?All of us are definitely opposed to it,? Evertson said. ?It's just one more thing being taken away from hunters.?
The Nevada Wildlife Commission approved the state?s inaugural black bear hunting season in 2011.
Of 14 bears killed by hunters that year, 12 of the successful hunts involved the use of dogs, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Thus far during the 2012 bear season, hunters have used dogs to bag five of the eight bears killed.
Next week?s discussion will focus on the technical merits of the petition, said Jack Robb, the Reno sportsman who chairs the Nevada Wildlife Commission. More detailed discussions would follow if the petition is accepted, Robb said.
?This is more about the petition than the issue of hounding,? Robb said.
The commission?s newest member, Karen Summers Layne, said she favors the petition. Layne, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, was appointed to the panel by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval in October. Layne is already on record as opposing the bear hunt in general.
?I don't think it's going to be news to anyone that I would support this petition,? Layne said. ?I have an issue with black bear hunting, period, but certainly with regard to the use of dogs.?
Like other critics, Layne said she considers the practice inhumane.
?Nobody has explained to me how this is a sport,? Layne said. ?You?re using the dogs to tree a bear and then you're shooting the bear out of a tree. That's a sport? I don't get it.?
Opponents of Nevada?s controversial bear hunt are seeking new regulations banning the use of dogs to chase down bears, a practice they describe as cruel and unnecessary.
A petition seeking the change, submitted by a coalition of organized foes of the bear hunt and animal welfare groups, is scheduled to be considered by the Nevada Wildlife Commission when it meets in Reno on Dec. 7.
?It does not honor the ethics of fair chase,? Kathryn Bricker, executive director of NoBearHuntNV.org, said of the use of trained hounds during a bear hunt.
Bricker?s group filed the petition along with Nevada Political Action for Animals, the Bear League, the Nevada Humane Society, Humane Society for the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Next week?s discussion comes after California lawmakers earlier this year passed a law to ban the use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats, a move Bricker characterized as one reflecting growing public sentiment across the country.
?The public feels this is one of the more egregious methods of hunting,? Bricker said. ?Hunting with hounds is not necessary. It is simply to satisfy the desires of hunters who want to use them.?
Marcial Evertson, secretary of the Nevada Houndsmen Association, was not prepared to discuss the proposal in detail but said it will face opposition by members of his organization.
?All of us are definitely opposed to it,? Evertson said. ?It's just one more thing being taken away from hunters.?
The Nevada Wildlife Commission approved the state?s inaugural black bear hunting season in 2011.
Of 14 bears killed by hunters that year, 12 of the successful hunts involved the use of dogs, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Thus far during the 2012 bear season, hunters have used dogs to bag five of the eight bears killed.
Next week?s discussion will focus on the technical merits of the petition, said Jack Robb, the Reno sportsman who chairs the Nevada Wildlife Commission. More detailed discussions would follow if the petition is accepted, Robb said.
?This is more about the petition than the issue of hounding,? Robb said.
The commission?s newest member, Karen Summers Layne, said she favors the petition. Layne, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, was appointed to the panel by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval in October. Layne is already on record as opposing the bear hunt in general.
?I don't think it's going to be news to anyone that I would support this petition,? Layne said. ?I have an issue with black bear hunting, period, but certainly with regard to the use of dogs.?
Like other critics, Layne said she considers the practice inhumane.
?Nobody has explained to me how this is a sport,? Layne said. ?You?re using the dogs to tree a bear and then you're shooting the bear out of a tree. That's a sport? I don't get it.?
