June 19, 2012

A California bill (SB 1221) that will ban the hunting of bear and bobcat with dogs has passed the California Senate and is expected to pass the Democratically-controlled Assembly. California lawmakers rejected such bills in 1993 and 2003, but this one is expected to land on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk for signature. Fourteen states already ban the hunting of bear with dogs, and thirteen states ban the hunting of bobcat with dogs. Dan Tichenor, a retired engineer who hunts black bear with Plott hounds in California, says that the plan of anti-hunting groups is to ban hunting species by species and state by state. MFHA Executive Director Dennis Foster makes the same argument, which he calls the “Domino Effect.” If we foxhunters want to preserve our sport, we cannot be selective in which game we support. Both figuratively and literally, we have “a dog in every fight” to ban hunting. More details on the California bill may be read in Paul Rogers’ article in the San Jose Mercury News. Posted June 19, 2012

Starting next year, all foxhound puppies whelped by hunts in England will be microchipped. With more than twenty-five hundred foxhound pups born each year, that will be a daunting task, but hunts want to be ahead of the curve on expected legislation. Laws aimed at puppy mills are expected to be passed in Great Britain making microchipping compulsory for all puppies born in there. Read more details in Flora Watkins’ article in Horse & Hound. Posted June 19, 2012

The British MFHA has recommended that all hunts record evidence of their hunting activities to document that they are hunting within the law. The MFHA’s message comes as the result of recent successful prosecutions by authorities and stepped up efforts against hunting by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS). Three members of the Crawley and Horsham were convicted of offenses contrary to the Hunting Act, and LACS now has ten “investigation officers” tasked to work in pairs around the country seeking actionable offenses. Recently, fifty-two summonses have been levied against the Heythrop by the RSPCA. MFHA Chairman Stephen Lambert warned hunts that the RSPCA has “adopted a scattergun approach…that could snowball unless hunts diligently keep daily records to demonstrate their legal activity with hounds.” Lambert also warned that covert cameramen are at work in most of the hunting countries, and that photographic surveillance is expected to increase in the coming season. Putting a positive spin on the situation during his remarks at the recent AGM, Lambert said that the all-out effort mounted by the opposition gives foxhunters the opportunity to demonstrate that the Hunting Ban is a ridiculous law. Read further details in Flora Watkins’ article in Horse and Hound. Posted June 19,2012