[ SHOWGSD-L ] No Subject
- From: Stormy435@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 10:57:01 EDT
From: vhdoa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: S_VHDOA
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 9:20 PM
Subject: ACTION REQUEST: HSUS Targets Virginia Hound Hunting
A VHDOA message to dog owning sportsmen about protecting their traditions,
avocations and livelihoods from anti-hunting, anti-breeding, animal
guardianship advocates. Forwarding and cross posting, with attribution,
encouraged.
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Dear Virginia Dog Owners
The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) has targeted Virginia's hound hunters,
asking its millions of misguided supporters to send emails to the Department
of Game and Inland Fisheries' (DGIF) Hounds Study Stakeholders Advisory
Committee (SAC). Its anti-hunting alert and preprogrammed webpage attack
calling for additional hound hunting restrictions may be found at
https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=2353634
1
and https://community.hsus.org/campaign/VA_2008_houndhunting/na276wjjib
In a closely related development, after a five-month delay, the
HSUS-PETA-DGIF December 2007 hounds study "focus group" meeting summary was
just released. DGIF's Virginia Tech (VT) study facilitator invited HSUS and
PETA to a meeting over the objections of sportsmen and some DGIF board
members. That meeting's summary document may be found at
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/hunting/hounds/focus-group-summary-121807-charlott
esville.pdf
The anti-hunting animal rightists' principal complaints were hound hunting
is cruel and unsportsman-like, hounds are abused and houndsmen and dogs
trespass. Their recommendations were
1. All Virginia hounds should be microchipped and registered with the state
to permit the identification of the owners of abused, lost and/or abandoned
dogs.
2. The use of telemetry collars while hunting violates fair chase doctrine.
Ban or restrict their use.
3. The bear hunting-training season is too long. Cut it.
4. Hunt club kennels require added inspections. Require a special hunting
hound license to fund more animal welfare inspections.
After casting round for someone not directly employed by a national
anti-hunting group for SAC membership, the DGIF appointed a board member of
the Virginia Animal Control Association (VACA), the biggest animal rights
player in the Old Dominion as HSUS's surrogate. VACA and HSUS have never
failed to support each others' Richmond legislative efforts to restrict or
increase regulations on dog owners. Efforts to get a hunter veterinarian
appointed as a counterweight were unsuccessful. This DGIF study's management
continues to be immensely disturbing. The much touted online VT "informal"
survey's questions are constructed to solicit anti-hound comments, i.e. have
houndsmen disturbed you in anyway? Are their dogs too thin, abandoned or
road killed? These hound abuse assertions have been included in the VT
online survey, e.g.
a.. Hound dogs I encounter on my property seem to be in poor physical
condition
b.. I encountered lost/abandoned hound dogs on my property
c.. I encountered road-killed hound dogs in my community
This study's major conclusions very appear to have already been decided. At
this point, the contractors are gathering only supporting data, filling in
the details in a report drafted months ago. There's no attempt to provide
survey context in terms of identical complaints about hunters without dogs,
or to identify anti-hunting respondents, e.g.
a.. Hounds/hound hunters disrupted my personal hunting
b.. Hound hunters vandalized or caused damage to my property
c.. Hound hunters hunted my land without permission
d.. I and/or my family members have felt threatened by hounds/hound
hunters
Less than 3.5% of all hunting complaints received by DGIF are about
houndsmen, but the department and VT contractor refuse to acknowledge that.
None of the houndsmen focus group voiced concerns about tracking collars
being removed and dogs stolen or shot were included in the survey, nor were
numerous complaints about shelter impoundment procedures or DGIF law
enforcement's failure to investigate hunting dog killings. In fact, the key
Caroline County December 6th houndsmen focus group meeting summary has never
been published. Additional houndsmen concerns voiced in a Charlottesville
meeting have also been ignored. The study's been very much a stacked deck,
with no organized or representative houndsmen participation.
The VT contractor didn't get SAC members to review its survey before going
public with it. Not only is it badly biased, it's laughable in its
misunderstanding of hunting dogs.
a.. If you are a member of any sportsman's groups, kennel clubs,
conservation groups (for example, Virginia Deer Hunters Association, AKC,
Audubon), or other organizations, please list them below.
The AKC isn't a membership or conservation organization. It's a registry,
like DMV. It's also a minor hound registry, except for beagles. UKC is
orders of magnitude larger. What's the SAC's role, if not to represent every
interest and correct such errors and misdirection? Is their sole purpose to
be a silent accomplice to this hound hunting study's preordained
conclusions?
ACTION REQUESTED
Please contact the Stakeholder's Advisory Committee (SAC), DGIF Board
Chairman Jim Hazel, DGIF Board Chairman designate CT Hill and DGIF Director
Bob Duncan.
HoundHuntingSAC@xxxxxx; James.Hazel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
CT.Hill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; Bob.Duncan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Request that they suspend the current VT survey effort, expand its scope to
add the crucial concerns of houndsmen about their dogs being stolen and
killed, and frame the revised survey's complaint questions to include all
hunters, not just those with dogs. Be sure to include your mailing address
and send your General Assembly delegate and senator copies of your
communication.
Freely forward and cross post. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bob Kane, President
Virginia Hunting Dog Owners' Association
Chairman Emeritus, Sportsmen and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com http://saova.org
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Mahatma Gandhi
Stormy Hope
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