Group wants SC bear hunters to call off their dogs

[wordpix]

Source: AP

Group wants SC bear hunters to call off their dogs

By MEG KINNARD (AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A declawed, defanged bear is chained to a stake as dogs run and jump at it, a training method called bear baying that for now is allowed in South Carolina, and only in South Carolina.

Armed with new undercover video of four such events, the Humane Society of the United States is pressuring state officials to explicitly outlaw the practice, which the organization says is effectively banned in every other state. Animal rights advocates say it's cruel to the nearly defenseless bears and harms them psychologically.

Hunters say the exercise popular in the state's hilly northwestern corner helps them train their dogs on what to do when they come across a bear during a hunt. snip

The unleashed dogs bark, show their teeth and swat at the bear, which lunges to the end of the chain, then backs up against the fence.
Moments later, handlers pull off the dogs. A new team of dogs — most of them Plott hounds weighing about 50 pounds — soon takes on the roughly 150-pound bear. Dozens more will follow. snip

VIDEO: http://charleston.thedigitel.com/crime/humane-society-fighting-ban-bear-baying-south-caro-23284-0823

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjKj3b8NkbJfCcu5RbTqpavktICgD9HP4BE80

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:puke: DISGUSTING! Go to Humane Society of the US to sign petition.

Better title for this article is "De-clawed, De-fanged Bears Tortured for Hours By Attacking Dogs."

[CurtEastPoint]

1. See this post below, with contact info etc.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9000538

[wordpix]

2. better title for this is ""De-clawed, De-fanged Bears Tortured for Hours By Attacking Dogs."

Only in S. C.

[EFerrari]

3. People are hateful @ssholes. n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

4. perhaps they are training for other things

[whathehell]

5. Just got the email and signed the petition...God, I hate cruelty to animals. n/t

[wordpix]

6. thank you - we need to stop this immediately!

[whathehell]

15. You're welcome...I agree completely. n/t

[xchrom]

7. Recommend

[pdefalla]

8. South Carolina.....

Isn't that where Michael Vick was from? Oh yeah, that was Virginia. In any case, he is the reason my wife and I joined PETA. In spite of their overly aggressive marketing, things like this are why I keep my membership.

[pipoman]

23. Did you mean sexist, misogynistic marketing?

[Omaha Steve]

9. I knew nothing about this

Thanks for posting. K&R!

[no limit]

10. Where the fuck did they get a bear?

[MsPithy]

11. All serial killers have one thing in common.

They start by torturing animals and escalate from there. Anyone who participates in this type of torture should be evaluated for the traits they share with serial killers. They are heinous cretins and do not deserve to breathe the same air that the rest of us do!

[tsstranger]

12. Fucking Rednecks

What do you expect from south of the Manson/Nixon line?

[LanternWaste]

13. The same expectations as from north of the imaginary line.

The same expectations as from north of the imaginary line you references as there are both good people in the south, and absurd nitwits who over-generalize from the north. :shrug:


People, regardless of place of birth or place of residence, are people.

[PavePusher]

21. Yeah, bigotry, that's what we needed in this discussion....

Stay classy out there. :eyes:

[Anakin Skywalker]

14. What a Bunch of Sick Bastards in S.C.

There are some real scumbags still out there among the human population. Very disappointing. This is the year 2010!

[DCKit]

16. We also have a problem with bear dogs.

Last week we learned how to deal with them - and their owners.

1) Feed them - They only get starvation rations at home.
2) Water them - They don't get enough of that either.
3) Pet them and talk to them - They won't be any good if they just stand around waiting for attention when they're put out to hunt.

The idea is to domesticate/tame the dogs and make them completely worthless for hunting - a cruel punishment to their owners who pay a serious premium for a bear dog. Once a bear dog is "broken", it won't hunt worth a damn.

Once the dogs have learned that food and water are readily available anywhere on their range, they'll run directly to it the second they're put out to hunt. Voila, no more chasing bears and, after a couple of failed hunts, no more bear dogs running rampant over your property. At the very worst, the owners will learn not to run their dogs within five miles of your home.

A 40# bag of the nastiest dog food (as good as what they get at home) runs about $17.

[wordpix]

17. good tip but---they let bear dogs run free over private property? No leash laws in SC?

:shrug:

So from this post we see not only cruelty to bears but also cruelty to bear dogs. :puke:

These people should be arrested.

[wordpix]

18. SC Sen. Joel Laurie to file legislation outlawing "bear baying"

http://www.fitsnews.com/2010/08/25/the-bear-baying-bill/

The “Bear Baying” Bill
By fitsnews • on August 25, 2010


In the latest story to highlight South Carolina’s backwoods inbrededness, the Humane Society of the United States is targeting the Palmetto state for its support of “bear baying,” a training practice for hunting dogs that allegedly causes “psychological damage” to bears.

South Carolina is the only state that allows the practice, which frankly isn’t surprising when you consider that our last Agriculture Commissioner was sent to prison for his involvement in a cockfighting ring. snip

According to the organization, it obtained the undercover footage “during visits to four bear baiting events in the state hosted by breed clubs associated with American Kennel Club and United Kennel Club.”

“Most people have never seen these underground events, because organizers try to keep the practice away from the public eye,” the report claims. “They know that if most people saw the terrified, tethered bear cornered by dogs for hours on end, they would demand an end to this abuse.”

South Carolina has a one-month black bear hunting season each October in its three mountain counties (Greenville, Oconee and Pickens). Permits are required to keep captive bears, but there are currently no prohibitions against “bear baying.” S.C. Senator Joel Lourie wants to change that, however, and announced this week that he is filing legislation to outlaw the practice.

[DCKit]

19. The family property is in VA.

Seems there, you can legally run your dogs anywhere they can go.

Unlike in SC, there is no bear-baiting, they just chase them up trees and, eventually, move on to the next one. We have a lot of bears in western VA.

[oceanman]

20. Bear 'hunting'

25 or so years ago I worked with a guy who related his experience with black bear 'hunting' in western Maine. The basic premise was let your dogs loose in the area you were 'hunting', let them drive the bear up a tree, walk up and shoot the animal - I almost hurled. Maybe one of the single most disgusting stories I've ever heard. There was no 'sport' involved - it was pure slaughter. I hope the laws have changed since then, but tend to doubt it.

[DCKit]

24. Nope. That's pretty much it. No sport, just slaughter. n/t

[wordpix]

26. it's now become "sport" to slaughter animals, and for no reason

I could maybe understand if I were living 200 yr. ago on a farm and a bear was killing my sheep, I might want to make bear dinner out of it. (OTOH, said farmer should have a large, sheep protecting dog). But nowadays, there is no good reason to kill a bear.

People move into bear habitat and think bears shouldn't be there because maybe they get into the dog food, garbage or bird feeders outside. It's people who should control their own population.

[defendandprotect]

22. k

[tabasco]

25. Bear hunters where I live are generally a bunch of backward-ass morons

who use radio collars on dogs to "hunt" bears.

Any time I see a dog box on the back of a truck, I think, "fucking idiot."

I see it's the same in SC.