Anti-Hunting Group Announces Litigation Division

[gman1969]

(Columbus) "“ The nation"™s largest anti-hunting group has launched a new legal department to challenge sportsmen in the courts.

An Animal Protection Litigation section was created in the wake of the recent merger of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Fund for Animals. Attorney Jonathan Lovvorn was selected to head the department. The organization intends to add four litigating attorneys by the end of the year.

"œThe animal rights movement sees the courts as the easiest way to realize its anti-hunting agenda,"� said U.S. Sportsmen"™s Alliance Senior Vice President Rick Story. "œAnti-hunters are in court right now to halt black bear hunting and kick sportsmen off of public lands. The move to implement an HSUS Animal Protection Litigation function so quickly and the commitment to the program"™s expansion prove that it is a priority for the newly formed mega-anti-hunting rights group."�

Lovvorn has been a partner with Meyer & Glitzenstein, the Washington, D.C. law firm used by the Fund for Animals in legal battles against sportsmen. He will assume his duties as vice president on January 1, 2005.

The merger of the two anti-hunting groups was announced on November 22, 2004. It will formally occur on January 1, 2005. The new group will have as much as $98 million in annual support to derail hunting and traditional wildlife management in the United States.

After the merger, the new organization will continue to be known as the Humane Society of the United States. It has stated that the abolition of hunting and trapping will be priority issues. Bowhunting is the first form of hunting that the group has vowed to eradicate.

The U.S. Sportsmen"™s Alliance has begun working with bowhunting organizations, businesses and publications to organize bowhunters nationwide to prepare a defense.

The U.S. Sportsmen"™s Alliance protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen"™s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.

http://www.wlfa.org/interactive/feat...ad.cfm?ID=1443

[vc1111]

Although their website is vague I found this rather easily:

http://hsus.ga4.org/campaign/MD_2004...nt/explanation

[kevin1]

By "aversive training" did they mean mistreatment of the bears for the sole purpose of driving them away ? You have to be pretty forceful to deter a bear from doing anything . So now they're in favor of mistreating those lovable furry bears , eh ? Aren't there laws against that ? Is there no way to stop these people ?

[boysda]

based way to deal with these jerks is in the courts. lawyer up!!

[JoeA]

Who's going to pay for the aversion training? If the HSUS funded the training, I may think differently, but until then "Put your money where your mouth is."

Text from the article:

" Maryland's bears have been protected from trophy hunting since 1953, when they were almost extinct in the state. Black bears are already at risk due to development and habitat fragmentation as well as hunting in bordering states, and these animals are among the slowest mammals to reproduce."

Did you notice how bias was introduced merely by the word "trophy"? I wonder what horrified look they'd have when someone points out that bear meat has many fans. Or that a lot of hunters consider a full freezer the trophy.

Q: Was it hunting that drove them to near extinction in MD or loss of habitat?
I've been under the assumption that the reasons for the increase in sightings & bear-human interactions (in MD and many other locations) include a growing population of bears and improvements in habitat quality, that have helped increase nos of many charismatic animals. Maybe I'm way off base?