Kentucky and West Virginia conservation officers arrested six people, served summonses on two others and seized eight illegally possessed coyotes Friday after an investigation into a coyote and fox trafficking ring that has been underway for almost two years.
In all, the suspects face at least 831 counts of illegally buying, selling or possessing wild-caught foxes and coyotes, and in one case, cruelty to animals....
....For the past 20 months, Kentucky undercover officers say they witnessed the illegal buying, selling and possession of live foxes and coyotes. They also witnessed Creech cutting the tails off live coyotes destined for use in chase pens.
"Officers in other states have heard of that practice, but this is the first time someone has actually demonstrated it to an officer," said a Kentucky undercover officer who witnessed the mutilation. "The tail is the first thing the hounds grab, so cutting it off makes it harder for the dogs to catch the coyote and extends the chase."
....The trade in foxes and coyotes stems from the practice of turning packs of fox hounds loose inside fenced enclosures ranging in size up to several hundred acres to chase foxes or coyotes. The chases may begin about sundown and may continue through noon or so the next day.
Officers say some chase pen operators need a continuous supply of foxes and coyotes and will pay as much as $100 or more for each animal.
That sets off alarms for wildlife biologists concerned about creating a commercial black market in Kentucky for the sale of coyotes and foxes to running pens
I have not been shy about my position on canned hunts.
To read several longer posts on the issue of ethical hunting, see:
- Hunting and Fishing Like Adults
- Artificial Dens, Big Dogs and Fair Chase
- Balancing Hawks & Doves in Wildlife Management
Back in January, in the comments section of this blog, I noted that fox pens were a very dangerous slippery slope, as the need for fenced training areas was relatively small, and the economic pressure to turn these things into canned hunts was pretty great. My bottom line conclusion:
The single greatest threat to hunting in American remains unethical sportsmen who can too easily give us all a bad name. Hunting ethics are not a "nicety," they are a necessity.
If the only hunting you can do is a canned hunt, then give it up. Ditto for "pay and pull" fishing and "pay and pull" bird hunting.
I stick by those statements. This country is running riot with wild game. If folks cannot find a couple of thousand acres to run their dogs on, then they are either not trying very hard, or need to give it up. Penned fox is not the answer to whatever question is being asked.
The good news is that this stuff is so rare that most people have never heard of it. You can run hounds your whole life and hunt fox every weekend and never even hear of one of these fox pen operations. The bad news, in my opinion, is that they exist at all. They are not part of the American tradition, and they need to be wiped out. End of story.
.
5 comments:
"Sick Puppy" by Carl Hiaasen is a satirical novel on Florida land developers and corrupt politicians. Canned hunts by "crazed" game farm owners are part of the novel's plot.
Coyotes shouldn't be in fox pens, because it's cruelty-- to the hounds.
A 30 pound coyote, when cornered, can really eff up a 70 pound hound.
It takes at least 3 hounds to kill a coyote when run traditionally. And even they they have to be incredibly tough.
If these things are licensed and the foxes have numerous escape burrows, it doesn't bother me as much as it does you that we have these things. These things are really about running the dogs in a controlled environment-- not canned hunting. The foxes in my region's hunting tradition are not killed, even in these pens. Fox chases--which aren't actually hunting-- happen at night. The fox ends the chase by going to ground, because there isn't a terrier in sight. There is a way to do these things ethically. I worry that if these are banned, the next thing that will go is they will make it illegal to train retrievers with live birds. That's something that is very important for retrievers to learn how to pick up live birds, and sometimes in that process, the birds get mauled. And you have to shackle live birds so they can learn how to hold them.
Unlicensed people who run coyotes in them-- well, that's different. And people who run foxhounds in pens to actually kill the fox-- that's bloodsport.
I'm surprised they didn't get in trouble for transporting across state lines, but maybe Kentucky doesn't have that law.
I was actually lectured at quite a length the other day for using the terms "humane slaughter" and "ethical hunting" in front of a vegan customer of mine.
We were discussing organic dog food (my argument being that I would rather see true quality than simply a "certified organic" stamp on the front - after all, a bag of organic peanut hulls is not exactly premium fare and yet costs a premium price). During the discussion I mentioned that a particular food, for example, was not "organic" but used free range chicken killed using "humane slaughter" methods.
Wow - thought her head might explode. In her returning diatribe, she brought up the hunting, and (thanks, Patrick) I was ready for her with a well-thought argument about wildlife management and the meaning of true suffering - and also the difference between bloodsport and ethical hunting.
Sadly, it's yahoos like these folks who give the real crazies more juice. Whenever coyote culling is mentioned, extremists will immediately drudge up the image of mutilated, tailless animals in penned enclosures, being mauled by dogs.
Retrieverman - I've trained bird dogs (Canada Geese and the occasional duck) and I have never used live birds. In fact, the closest we ever came was using wings removed off of dead birds. To be honest, I consider your use of live birds to be inhumane, at best. Did my dogs ever retrieve birds who were not fully deceased? Yep (although VERY rare). Did they ever "maul" said birds? Nope. They were trained for soft mouths and proper holds long before they were ever put in the field to see true action.
You know how you train a young hound to start tracking and chasing fox or raccoon? With scent! Put a slice of hot dog down along the scent line, and keep the dog hungry, and it will follow that scent forever. This is how scent tracking is taught.
For all your coon dog and fox hound supplies, see Bill Boatman at >> http://www.billboatmancoinc.com/
Bird scent on p. 9. and everything else on p 14. Tips on training hounds on p 15.
Patrick
"You know how you train a young hound to start tracking and chasing fox or raccoon?"
good advice
Other excellent sugerir and buy or take the dogs that come from blood lines of work (WITH EXPERIENCE IN THE HUNT ) Buy or take the puppy after a period of 90 days of life! (To learn a lot from their parents and other siblings)
If the dog was addotato in the refuge has a year of life , can be educated by a dog with more experience! (learns faster and more) I use a cloth bag with the same food they eat in and then replacing it with a piece of cloth dampened with a solution of liquid extracted from the faeces of wild animals * excrement water *
Artificial Dens : Evidence of artificial burrows for the simple phobia of closure, not with life in it, but with a damp cloth, inside it for a couple of times and then Dens true . Better if accompanied by a parent or dog with experience .
Mirko
Post a Comment