hound hunting

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that bans the use of dogs in hunting bear and bobcat. The moment represents a long-sought for success for animal rights activists, who have been bringing this or similar bills to the California legislature for many years now. Pro-hunting groups with the help of the MFHA and the United States Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) have, until now, successfully staved off passage. There is no doubt that this bill represents a major defeat for all sportsmen and women who hunt with dogs or hounds. Where will it go from here? is the big question. Read more details in John Bowman’s article in the Siskiyou Daily. Posted December 28, 2012

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill banning the hunting of bear and bobcat with hounds in that state. The bill was opposed throughout the legislative process by pro-hunting groups. Its enactment on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 represents a big success for the Humane Society of the United States, the animal rights organization that championed the legislation. The subtitle to Axie Navas’s article in the Tahoe Daily Tribune proclaims that some hail the new law as a step forward in promotion of humane hunting (italics mine). I suppose that those who hailed Hitler’s 1938 Munich Agreement with England as “Peace for Our Time” might agree with that assessment. The article reports that the number of black bears in California has nearly tripled in less that thirty years. Two years ago the black bear population was estimated at 25,000 to 30,000. Hunters help control the population by taking about 1,500 bears in a typical season. Hound hunting has accounted for nearly half of those taken. The law is scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2013. Posted October 6, 2012