From: kckbxr@next07wor.wam.umd.edu (Robin Hood)
Subject: Cruelty to animals in VA?   Long, but important.
Organization: Workstations at Maryland, University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 03:44:54 GMT

I found this article in last Saturday's edition (10/10/92) of the  
Washington Post.  It's a fairly long article, so I'll leave out some of  
the non-essential quotes and stuff.  I thought it was an *interesting*  
article and was curious to what the reaction was about this from  
everybody.  Here goes:

   " Bear Chasing Season Hounded by Allegations of Endangerment
            (by D'Vera Cohn - Wash. Post staff writer)

  Virginia's first legal bear chasing season, in which hunters with packs  
of hounds were permitted to run down black bears without killing them,  
ended this month amid allegations that it endangered some bears and led to  
the death of others chased onto highways.
  In 22 counties-the closest one only 50 miles from Washington-hunters  
with big-game licenses were allowed to chase bears during daylight hours,  
or at night by special permit.  Bears were not supposed to be injured and  
no weapons were allowed.  An official of one hunting group estimated that  
300 to 400 hunters had participated by the time the season ended a week  
ago today.  During the month-long trial, at least 15 bears died after  
being struck by cars in the area of the bear chases-more than usual for  
this time of the year.  Although all sides said a shortage of acorns and  
other food has driven bears into new territory and potentially onto the  
roads, critics said they believe some of the bears killed were being  
chased by dogs.
  Virginia's black bear, population is estimated at 3,500 and growing.   
Critics say the chase season exhausts bears at a time when they need to be  
fattening up for winter, separates mothers and cubs and can lead to bloody  
fights between bears and dogs.
  According to the Fund for Animals, which opposes all hunting with  
hounds, California dropped its pursuit season several years ago because  
bear chasers were killing bears.  New Mexico ended its season because  
officials feared harm to the bear population.  In proposing a chase season  
trial, Virginia officials said they had found no problems in other states.   
Black bear hunting is banned in Maryland, but both West Virginia and North  
Carolina allow hunting and chasing.
  Defenders of bear chasing say it allows dogs kept penned up all year to  
"be let out and exercised as a kindness to the animal, a means of  
recreation for owners and a means of training new dogs," according to Tom  
Evans, a lobbyist for the Houndsmen and Sporting Dog Association.
  "The reason you do it is to hear your hounds run...to get your dogs in  
shape and listen to them run," said G.P. Fisher, a Staunton, Va.,  
businessman who said he went out on all but two days of the recently ended  
season and treed 11 bears.
  Fisher said bears are not harmed by the chase, sometimes turning on the  
dogs pursuing them.  Two of his dogs were crippled by bears this year, he  
said.
  That is part of the problem, according to Wayne Pacelle, national  
director of the Fund for Animals: The practice is cruel to dogs too.   
Pacelle said studies show the typical chase lasts two hours and can go up  
to 10 hours.  Increasingly, he said, the pursuit is being turned into a  
"high-tech" hunt by use of radio collars on dogs.
  Robert Duncan, chief of the department's wildlife division, said the  
department recently relocated 215 black bears to southwest Virginia.  He  
acknowledged that officials decided not to allow bear chases there because  
it might endanger the effort to reestablish the bear population in the  
area.    "

This concludes the article.  Again, I deleted some quotes that were  
non-essential to the reader.  Well?  What do you think?  Cruelty to  
animals (bears/dogs)?  

Bill