Night Hunting Issue just got more controversial!
Night Hunting Issue is heating up in North Carolina
Public Meetings in March 2012
For detailed information on these public meetings, click on the following link:
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/...ing%20list.pdf
If you are interested, please express your opinion this month! You can comment online or attend one of these Public Meetings on the issue of night hunting hogs and coyotes.
Here comes our most dangerous opposition, straight out of Washington, DC and California:
Night Hunting
Farmers and hunters are at odds with animal rights advocates over a proposal by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to allow night hunting of feral hogs and coyotes with artificial lights. The commission considers coyotes an invasive species that kills domestic animals and eats crops, while non-native feral hogs destroy vegetation and can spread disease to domestic livestock. Farmers and hunters see the species as destructive and dangerous, but animal rights advocates say indiscriminate killing would only create more problems. Most everyone agrees there is no hope of eradicating coyotes, which are smart, adaptive and opportunistic feeders. But night hunting with lights would keep their population in check and potentially decimate feral hogs, advocates say. "What we would like to be able to do is, when we discover new places where pigs all of a sudden show up, people can concentrate their efforts on those and try to kill as many as they can," said Brad Howard, private lands program coordinator and wildlife biologist for the Wildlife Resources Commission. But not everyone thinks around-the-clock hunts are a good idea.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concerns about allowing night hunts in territory inhabited by red wolves, which are an endangered species. Several animal rights groups say opening North Carolina to night hunting could invite trouble. "Opening night hunting will further threaten the persistence and recovery of the red wolf, and we have serious concerns about that," said Camilla Fox, executive director of Project Coyote, a California-based group that promotes coexistence between people and coyotes. "We believe it's ethically indefensible and ecologically reckless." The Wildlife Commission is holding a series of public forums to get feedback on the hunting proposal. (James Halpin, THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER, 3/10/12).
More later, Henri McClees
Joe & Henri McClees
NC Sporting Dog Association, Inc.
PO Box 430
Oriental, NC 28571
Office (252) 249-1097
Fax (252) 249-3275
www.ncsportingdog.org
Joe’s mobile (252) 671-1585
Henri’s mobile (252) 671-1559