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Fox pens are horrifying tools of animal abuse and it is shameful that they continue to be allowed to function in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In Virginia, foxes are trapped in the wild all over our state and thrown into electrified fenced enclosures for dogs to chase them down and frequently maul and kill them. In staged competitions, hundreds of dogs may be judged on how they aggressively pursue the outnumbered, captive foxes, all for a trophy and cash prizes. All the terrified and exhausted fox gets if he or she survives the competition is the chance to live until the next such horrendous occasion. We have urged both the Virginia General Assembly and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (which licenses, regulates and inspects fox pens) to end this blood “sport,” which is not a tradition in Virginia since it only began in the 1980’s. How can one even think of using the word “sport” when one of the participants is grossly outnumbered and has no means of escape?
Currently, the Board of Directors of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is considering changes to the Virginia fox pen regulations in response to the public outcry over their abuses. View the proposed regulations here. These proposed regulations are weak and unenforceable, and they will most likely do nothing to reduce the number of foxes injured and ripped apart by dogs in pens. In addition, the Board heard a great deal of expert testimony about the fact that the fox pens constitute a great threat to the massive spread of rabies in Virginia. The Department’s own staff recommended including a new regulation to address the rabies issue but the Board itself struck the proposed regulation down. Virginia citizens need to tell the Board that the time is now to rid the state of its last legal blood sport and stop fox penning.
The Board has asked for public comments on these proposed regulations by May 30. Please send a quick note using the link below to The Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries asking them to prohibit fox pens and to protect us from the spread of rabies. The animals need your voice! There will be no positive change for these animals unless the Board hears from you that you want both the animals and the people of Virginia protected. If they do not hear from the people like you who love animals, then they will believe that no one cares about these precious animals and their fate in these fox pens.
Here are some topics that you could comment on in your message to the Board if you wish:
Pens are fenced enclosures where dogs are released to chase down captive foxes, often in competitions. No matter the size of the enclosure, the dogs often catch and kill the foxes. In just five years, Virginia operators reported to have taken more than 6,000 foxes from the wild for this cruel enterprise.
We have it in law that wildlife cannot be possessed, bought and sold, yet these fox pen operators take foxes by the thousand for their private amusement and financial gain.
These pens have zero wildlife management value and are a threat to public and wildlife health. It's shameful our state agency is spending resources attempting to manage this fenced game. There is no question (and the experts have confirmed) that fox pens constitute a Russian roulette for the spread of rabies because foxes are a vector species for rabies and they are being transported by unvaccinated people and being attacked by many unvaccinated dogs.
These pens go against our traditions of fair chase and our morals, and no ethical hunter would have anything to do with them. Nor would any real mounted fox hunter. This activity has nothing to do with the tradition of mounted fox hunting.
Send your comments to the following email address: regcomments@dgif.virginia.gov. You must include full personal identifying information for your comment to be considered. Many thanks from me and from the innocent animals whose lives are at stake.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Today's Washington Post editorial page provides a beautifully written and deeply affecting editorial about the despicable recent efforts of a number of state legislatures to pass "ag-gag" bills to prevent the American public from knowing the truth about the horrifically abusive treatment of animals in factory farming operations.
Six states have enacted these bills already and six more are considering some version of them. There is no suggestion ever made by the proponents of these bills that the undercover videos made in these agribusiness operations demonstrating the stomach churning animal abuse are not truthful. The legislation's purpose is simply to ensure that the public is not permitted to see these abuses for fear that it might drive them to vegetarianism (OMG, we have a lot of rights but the right to be a vegetarian in not one of them apparently!). This is not only a shocking display on the part of elected representatives of callousness to animal suffering but also an appalling disregard of our first amendment rights.
We are deeply grateful for the great and courageous work that the Humane Society of the United States has done to document the awful realities of the cruelties to which animals are subjected in these agribusiness operations and for their laudable successes in achieving change for the better. It is of course those successes that are really behind these efforts to prevent the public from seeing and knowing the truth. As Justice Brandeis said "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants." Please read the editorial and help us to promote sunlight on the conduct in factory farms.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) will soon begin a review process of fox penning and we need your help! We will not cease our efforts to see the end of fox penning in Virginia and will continue to advocate for a necessary moratorium on the practice. It is very important that we all keep a watchful eye and that we not back down; the voiceless animals of Virginia are depending on all of us to make a difference.
What can you expect from this process and what can you do to advocate for animal and public welfare in Virginia? Please save these dates to your calendar and stay involved by following our blog for the next steps:
Next Wednesday, March 20 at 1 p.m.
The full DGIF Game Board will meet to discuss their regulation of fox pens. A package of recommendations for review (with consent of board) will be advertised after March 21.
What can you do? Please attend the Game Board meeting to show your support for increased regulations on fox penning. You can invite your friends to join you and share information about this horrible practice through social media and more.
April and May
A series of public hearings will be held by DGIF in four regions of Virginia to get public feedback on any drafted changes to fox pen regulations.
What can you do? Please attend the public hearing nearest to you (more details to come), invite fellow animal lovers and spread the word!
June 13
The Game Board will hear testimony and a review of the public hearings. Afterwards, the Board will vote.
What can you do? Please attend the Board meeting to voice your support for increased regulations. As always, please bring your friends and share the news.
The backstory of the fight against fox penning in Virginia
On February 5, the Senate of the Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1280, which would have prohibited staged competitions and limited the number of hounds released in fox pens in Virginia. This was a huge success for the wellbeing of both the animals and people of the Commonwealth. Our great thanks go to Bill Patron Senator Marsden and to Senators Ebbin, Miller and McEachin. The following week, however, S.B. 1280 was unfortunately killed in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee. We were very disappointed with this outcome, especially given that abundant evidence and valid arguments in support of this measure had been offered by its proponents, including Ed Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
We know that a moratorium on fox pens is crucial for both the public health and animal welfare of our Commonwealth, and we will continue our advocacy both with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the General Assembly. Therefore, it is important not to lose momentum as this issue may fade from public spotlight. We cannot permit those who take pleasure in releasing dogs on fenced wildlife to have the sole voice on this issue. The facts remain that fox penning is inhumane and dangerous for all involved. As long as the practice is allowed to continue, foxes will be killed, hounds and humans will be put at risk, and the health of the general public and surrounding wildlife will be put at risk for injury, illness and death.
It is up to you to change the fate of foxes in our commonwealth
You made a difference with the Senate and you can continue to do so. Those of you who spoke up for wildlife, hounds and the safety and wellbeing of your fellow citizens by calling your legislators, sharing and posting to social media and more helped this piece of legislation move farther through the General Assembly than similar bills had in the past. Thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts, for your tireless efforts in the face of criticism, opposition and outright attacks from the proponents of fox penning. We must all do our part to not forget that the horrors of fox penning continue in Virginia and see to it that one day, those horrors cease indefinitely.
Because we know firsthand that advocacy demands time, effort, heart and dedication, we would like to leave you with some encouraging words from Seth Godin that have helped keep us going during this process so far:
Yes is an opportunity and yes is an obligation. The closer we get to people who are confronting the resistance on their way to making a ruckus, the more they let us in, the greater our obligation is to focus on the yes.
There will always be a surplus of people eager to criticize, nitpick or recommend caution. Your job, at least right now, is to reinforce the power of the yes.
To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
This Tuesday morning Senate Bill 1280 will be heard by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee at 7:30 a.m. in the Capitol building (see below). Whether you’ve got one minute or less than an hour to spend Tuesday morning, you can continue to help us make history for animals. Here’s how:
Commitment – Action:
5 minutes – contact your Delegate right now and ask that he/she support SB1280 to end cruel fox pens in VA.
Call your Delegate and share, “Hi my name is _________; I am a constituent and I want Delegate ________ to vote yes on SB1280 to end cruel staged competitions in fox pens.”
Write or email your Delegate with the same message. Easy email form in the HSUS' action alert.
1 minute – expose the cruelty of fox penning by sharing it with your friends and family.
Less than an hour – attend the House Agriculture Natural Resources Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday (2/12) morning at 7:30am in the Capitol building, House Room 3.
The future of this bill rests in the hands of seven Delegates. If just four Delegates vote against us, the bill will die. Your attendance will have a HUGE impact on whether or not this bill passes on Tuesday morning. Please join us and tell those you know in the Richmond area how important this meeting is – hopefully they can come too!
For the future – should our 2013 legislative efforts end Tuesday morning we will immediately begin advocacy through the regulatory review process with the Dept of Game and Inland Fisheries in March. This state agency has the regulator power to engage in rule-making on fox pens regardless of legislative direction.
We will provide updates as major milestones approach and how to get involved.
Guest blogger Laura Donahue is the Virginia State Director for The Humane Society of the United States. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Shortly after the Virginia Senate passed Senate Bill 1280 on Tuesday, February 5 prohibiting staged competitions in fox pens, we posted that news on our Facebook page to let our friends and supporters know that this great step forward for the well being of animals had occurred. Almost immediately, the fox penners began to attempt to highjack our page with their increasingly nasty and aggressive comments. It was a long evening of responding to the few who were reasonably polite, though misleading, and taking down those that were rude and nasty. A few notes I will make related to that effort:
Ad hominem attacks have no place in any rational discussion of a political issue (or any issue, for that matter). These fox penners and other folks who do not support the cause of animal welfare need to stop attacking me personally and stop attacking others who are working to achieve the passage of this bill and other measures to protect animals. When they engage in these sorts of cruel and highly personal attacks, I will promise that we will take it down every time.
Has any of us ever changed his or her mind because someone started yelling at us online? Of course not.
These folks need to stop saying that we are uneducated. It is rude and it serves nothing to pretend that the honestly held opinions of someone else are just the product of their lack of education or their stupidity. I am constantly amazed that none of them ever addresses the profound concerns that fox pens raise about the spread of rabies but I do not say that they are uneducated about these issues. I assume that they know about them and simply have no response to them.
We are truly shocked by their repeated reliance in various forums on the argument that fox pens should continue to exist because otherwise the fox penners will stop feeding and caring for their dogs and will simply desert them in the woods and then they will have to be cared for by humane organizations. Really, their best argument is that we should allow fox pens to continue because otherwise the participants will abuse, neglect and abandon their dogs in violation of state law and ethical principles and that will place an even greater burden on us? Enough said about that.
The fox penners who suggest that they participate in competitions because those competitions raise money for charitable endeavors are perhaps the most disingenuous of all. If their chief aim is to raise donations for non-profit agencies, then there are a host of other activities that don't involve harming wildlife in which they could engage themselves.
The question has been posed by at least one of the penning advocates asking why we are satisfied with this bill since it only prohibits staged competitions and does not abolish or place a moratorium on fox pens entirely. Staged competitions are occasions when hundreds of hounds are released into fox pens at the same time and, therefore, they result in animal fights, abuse and killing in the greatest quantities. They also provide a substantial portion of the revenue of fox pens and we believe that the wildlife of Virginia should belong to and be able to be enjoyed by all of the citizens of Virginia. One of the most outrageous aspects of fox penning is that penners are being allowed to privatize and commercialize the wildlife of Virginia for their personal economic gain. There is no question that we would prefer to see fox pens be banned or at least a moratorium be instituted on the further issuance of licenses for them. But at this moment, the accomplishment of this step appears to be possible and it is a meaningful improvement for the animals and the people of our state.
The folks would be well reminded of Godwin’s Law. Anytime you use an analogy to Hitler, as Kirby Burch has done before the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to describe those opposed to fox penning, or the Nazis or the Holocaust, you have lost the argument.
It is crucially important that every one of us who is horrified by the cruelties of fox penning, offended that penners are taking animals out of the wild for their private financial gain and worried about the enormous rabies threat that fox penning poses to people and animals, calls his or her Delegate as well as every member of the House Agriculture Committee and urge them to support and vote in favor of Senate Bill 1280.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Today’s guest blog is written by Edward Clark, president and co-founder of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
Ed Clark, courtesy of Will Kerner and the Wildlife Center of Virginia
While I am a lifelong hunter who believes in fair chase, and a member of a mounted foxhunting club, I am not here to discuss the ethical shortcomings of fox pens, or the effect that the capture and commercial privatization of nearly 1,000 foxes from across Va. has on my favorite pastime each year. I support SB1280 because, as currently operated, these so-called foxhound training facilities in Va. present an unreasonable and intolerable threat to wildlife health and human health across the state.
What are foxhound training facilities or fox pens?
These so-called training facilities, or fox pens, as they are more commonly known, are parcels of land ranging from 34.5 to 840 acres in size. Foxes are live-trapped from the wild, across the state, transported to the pens, and stocked into these enclosures at densities determined by the owners. The pens are entirely fenced to create an escape-proof enclosure into which foxes are released, ostensibly for the purposes of training foxhounds to follow the scent of foxes and pursue this quarry. For a fee paid to the fox pen operator, hounds are allowed inside the facility to pursue these foxes.
Courtesy of the Wildlife Center of Virginia
According to the Va. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), most fox pens are relatively small, family-run operations, averaging 200 acres in size. About half of these operations only allow small groups of hounds into the pen exclusively for training. However, the other half hosts large competitions and field trials, which can involve hundreds of dogs on a single day. For a few of the largest operations, such competitions seem to be their primary business. These are the largest consumers of foxes. Owners and advocates of these facilities contend that such enclosures provide a safe area for the training and schooling of hound, and that foxes are seldom harmed by this confinement and pursuit. The fact that approximately 4,000 foxes have been introduced into the 37 existing facilities in the last few years seems to contradict such statements. Once the foxes are stocked into these facilities, they are never intended to come out alive.
These facilities ignore rules and put lives at risk
Here in Va., the DGIF, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Division of Wildlife Services and the Va. Department of Health, has made wildlife disease control, especially the control of zoonotic diseases like rabies, a very high priority. Foxes are 1 of 5 species that have been identified as high-risk rabies vector species. Strict regulations have been enacted, including absolute prohibitions on relocation of these high risk species by nuisance wildlife trappers. There are also very tight restrictions on where these species can be released by wildlife rehabilitators, practitioners who are specifically trained to deal with sick and injured wildlife. The Va. Department of Health considers any human exposure to a rabies vector species to be a potentially life-threatening situation.
All wildlife rehabilitators who care for even 1 fox or other high-risk animal must be receive pre-exposure rabies vaccines and provide proof of regular proof of current immunity in order to get their permits renewed. No one, other than vaccinated personnel, is allowed to see, let alone handle foxes undergoing rehabilitation. In the event that the rehabilitator or any member of the public is bitten by one of these animals, or even someone’s dog is bitten, the fox is immediately euthanized and submitted for rabies testing. If the fox is not available for testing, the exposed person receives post-exposer vaccinations just to be safe. A dog that is bitten by a fox must be quarantined if the fox cannot be tested. If 1 fox in a cage full of the foxes is determined to have rabies, all must be euthanized on the assumption that the disease has spread.
A young girl with feed scoop in hand
There is simply no tolerance for ignoring rules that have been put in place to protect the lives of people and free-ranging wildlife. No shortcuts can be taken with high risk species, or the risk of transplanting a disease like rabies, except where foxhound training preserves are concerned.
This one activity flies in the face of every rule, every regulation, and all of the safety procedures that are in effect for protection of both humans and wildlife, in every other field of endeavor that involves high-risk species like foxes. How this has gone on so long simply defies the imagination.
In fox pens, there is no requirement to control disease or minimize the risks to humans, hounds or wildlife
Unvaccinated trappers live trap foxes from anywhere in Va. for relocation across the state. Trappers hold these foxes in captivity for up to a week with no regulation on where they can be held or who can have access to animals. There is no requirement for what minimal cage sizes must be. There is no requirement to report bites to themselves or other people during this period. Then, money changes hands, and the foxes are transferred (not sold) to the pen operators.
A once wild fox confined by a fence
When pen operators receive new foxes, this dangerous and risky behavior moves to a new level of absurdity. Foxes from all parts of Va. are received and handled by another unvaccinated individual. Then, if the foxes are lucky, they are put into acclimation enclosures, where they mix and mingle with foxes from other parts of the state. There is no regard for the potential transmission of a deadly disease.
There is no quarantine procedure in place to assure that new foxes are not introducing an infectious disease or parasites to every other fox in the pen. There is no veterinary involvement whatsoever. It is an epidemiological crap shoot—viral Russian roulette. Once new foxes are introduced to the main enclosure, it must be assumed that every other fox in the pen will be exposed to any disease present.
And yet, there is no requirement for even minimal steps to control disease or minimize the risks to humans, hounds or wildlife. This situation is simply absurd.
Either the safety concerns reflected in law and regulation in every other aspect of dealing with rabies vector species are meaningless, or the activities surrounding foxhound training facilities are simply out of control.
Supporters won’t tell you they’re breaking the law
Supporters of this industry will likely tell you that their trade association has published a “best management practices” document which recommends the use of drugs like Ivermectin to control internal parasites and mange in the foxes. Others will tell you that they even vaccinate foxes in their enclosures for rabies.
Fox pen boundary
What they will not tell you is that, according to the Va. Code of Administrative Law, it is absolutely illegal for pen operators to give any medication to any fox unless the operator happens to be licensed by the Board of Veterinary Medicine as a veterinarian or veterinary technician. They are also unlikely to point out that there is no rabies vaccination approved for use in foxes. So, in addition to being illegal, it is also meaningless. Because of a previously unnoticed conflict in the state code of Va., DGIF currently does not even have the authority to authorize pen operators to administer medications of any kind to foxes in their enclosure, regardless of how beneficial it might be to all concerned. Until this legal conflict is resolved by the General Assembly, DGIF does not have the authority to fully address all of these very serious issues that threaten the health of foxes, other wildlife, hounds, and humans alike.
There must be a moratorium on new facilities, live trapping and stocking new foxes
Please click here to see the Wildlife Center of Virginia's policy considerations and recommendations related to fox pens.
Until all of these issues can be addressed with full input and review by not only the DGIF, but the Va. Department of Health, the United States Department of Agriculture and all agencies with some jurisdiction over the issues created by foxhound training preserves, there must be a moratorium on new facilities and a moratorium on the live trapping of foxes as well as the stocking of new foxes into existing enclosures. To do less would suggest that the financial interest of these 37 operations is more important than the health and safety of the public, the hounds and hounds men who visit the facilities, and indeed the trappers and operators themselves.
Editor's note: Mr. Clark testified before the Va. Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources in support of SB1280 on Thursday, Jan. 31, calling upon the Va. General Assembly and the Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries to, at the minimum, enact an immediate and indefinite moratorium on the issuance of new permits for foxhound training facilities, and an immediate and indefinite moratorium on the restocking of existing facilities until a complete regulatory review and rulemaking can be conducted.
Edward Clark is the president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. The Wildlife Center is one of the world’s leading teaching and research hospitals for wildlife and conservation medicine and cares for nearly 3,000 wild animals each year. The organization is recognized as an international leader in the field of wildlife disease surveillance and research. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Animal welfare advocates attended the Senate Agriculture hearing on SB1280 wearing caps imprinted with "STOP Fox Penning!" to show support for the bill.
Yesterday, I was thrilled to see a truly meaningful step in the right direction happen for the animals and the people of Virginia in a meeting room at the Virginia General Assembly Building. Senate Bill 1280, which is being patronned by Senator Dave Marsden, would have prohibited the issuance of any further licenses for fox pens in Virginia and would also have prevented the current ones from being transferred so as to cause their ultimate phase out over time. This bill was amended by Senator Stuart, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee where the bill was being heard, so as to limit it to only prohibiting staged competitions in fox pens. While this was a significant reduction in the reach of the bill, it still gets at one of the primary ways the pen owners make their money on the pain and suffering of animals and removes one of the main vehicles for their infliction of suffering. The substitute bill was reported out by the committee to go now for a vote before the full Senate. This was a huge step in the right direction since the General Assembly has heretofore consistently resisted taking any action to address the dreadful threats and abuses of fox pens. The fox penners were there in force conveying their usual attitude of entitlement to entrap and commercialize the beautiful wildlife of Virginia that should be for the enjoyment of us all. For the first time ever, they did not succeed.
The public statements prior to the committee's vote included a powerful and informative statement by Ed Clark of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Mr. Clark who is widely respected for his knowledge of wildlife issues, spoke of the enormous risks of the spread of rabies to people and to other animals created by the movement of foxes, a vector species for rabies, around the state when they are trapped and taken to these penned enclosures. We will ask Mr. Clark to write for our blog so that the crucial information he provided about the serious issues of the spread of this deadly disease may receive a wider publication. It was deeply troubling to me that there was no further discussion among the members of the committee about the serious public health issues associated with fox pens that Mr. Clark had clearly brought to their attention. I intend to help to highlight these very concerning issues in the future in the hope that our elected or appointed representatives will begin to understand what horrific threats these fox pens pose and take responsible action to address them.
For the moment, we should all rejoice that a step in the right direction happened yesterday. Let us now hope that, and do all we possibly can to achieve, the passage of the bill before both the Senate and the House of Delegates.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
I recently wrote a Point/Counterpoint essay for the Roanoke Times on the topic of fox penning. While I discussed the serious ethical issues regarding the barbaric practice of fox penning, Kirby Burch, who describes himself as a founding member of the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance, wrote for the other side of the debate. We both wrote essays that were published and then wrote rebuttal essays responding to the initial essay of the other writer. Mr. Burch, who recently stood up at a Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and likened those of us who oppose fox penning to Adolf Hitler and our efforts to the Holocaust (I am truly not making this up), began his rebuttal essay by saying that Robin Starr “frequently appears before the General Assembly to oppose all hunting activities.”
In the time-honored words of Pat Moynihan, Mr. Burch is welcome to his own opinions but not to his own facts. What he said about me is simply not true. I have never appeared before the General Assembly opposing any form of hunting other than fox penning which cannot reasonably be described as hunting. Fox penning is a form of animal fighting. But, all that is beside the point for this moment. If Mr. Burch is going to say in a publication that I frequently appear before the General Assembly to oppose all hunting activities, he needs to have some examples of my speaking before the General Assembly to oppose some form of hunting, besides fox penning, to back that up. He was asked to do so by the Roanoke Times and was unable to produce anything that would support his statement in his essay.
While I myself am unable to understand why hunting holds any allure to people, the Richmond SPCA does not oppose ethical forms of hunting and has never sought to prevent any form of traditional ethical hunting from occurring. We certainly oppose the use of inhumane traps, poaching and cruel forms of hunting such as bear baiting, and we object to any form of abuse or mistreatment of hunting dogs. But then so does every ethical hunter.
It does not become the reputations of fox penners to have their standard bearer spout untruths about the people who oppose their activities. We all know that his intent in saying this untruth about me was to make me appear to be some crazy radical whose argument should be ignored. That sort of approach demeans the level of discourse, brings shame on the fox penners and only serves to further substantiate the view that they are people whose ethics are in short supply. It should make ethical hunters want to get as far away from them as possible.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
On Thursday morning, I spoke, along with many other opponents of the cruel practice of fox penning, at a meeting of the Board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The DGIF has never actually put the issue of fox pens on the Board’s agenda in 2012 even though they were asked to look into the matter during the last session of the General Assembly. Since this was the last meeting of the year, people concerned about the cruel practice of fox penning came to speak to the Board and ask them to place a moratorium on the issuance of fox pen licenses and to begin to change the regulations that permit this practice in Virginia. At the Thursday morning meeting, there were more than twice as many public speakers opposed to fox penning as there were speakers who support this cruel behavior. After the public comment period was over, the Board decided to have the staff of the DGIF solicit more public comments and come up with recommendations regarding possible new or changed regulations on the subject during the coming year. This will not change the fact that a bill will be introduced again during this coming session of the General Assembly to have the legislature institute a moratorium on the issuance of more fox pen licenses.
While a moratorium would be a good thing and better than the current situation, the best approach would be for our state to simply outlaw the unethical practice of fox penning which has already been outlawed in Florida. Fox penning is simply not hunting and bears no relationship to mounted fox hunting or any other form of traditional hunting which honors the ethics of fair chase.
Any reasonable person would actually think that fox penning would fall under the terms of our felony animal fighting law here in Virginia. The abhorrent practice of catching live wild foxes, releasing them in an enclosure where there is no escape and then setting large numbers of hounds on them to chase them until they are caught and often torn apart limb by limb is bizarrely one that is currently licensed by Virginia through the DGIF. And, yet, it is impossible for anyone to articulate why this practice does not fall within the precise terms of the Virginia felony animal fighting statute.
The most remarkable moment of the public comments made before the DGIF Board on Thursday morning occurred after the large group of fox penning opponents had finished. Kirby Burch who is the president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance and a loud defender of fox penning went on a tirade about how this issue was being pushed entirely by the Humane Society of the United States (ignoring entirely that I and a large number of other speakers not associated with the HSUS had just finished speaking against it). He urged that no compromise whatsoever on the issue should be tolerated and then likened those who oppose fox penning to Adolf Hitler – I am really not making this up. Mr. Burch apparently is not familiar with Godwin’s Law which is a well circulated Internet adage that once someone makes a reference to Hitler in support of an argument he has lost all credibility and has lost the argument.
After the public comments were finished and the proposal for the DGIF staff to come up with recommendations had been passed, Scott Reed the Chairman of the DGIF Board urged that both sides in the matter seek to find a reasonable solution and to treat each other respectfully. I agree with him completely and note that it is the advocates of fox penning, not the opponents who are engaging in irresponsible rhetoric likening people of good intentions and compassion for animals to Hitler and labeling them as terrorists. Such hyperbolic and incendiary language is unacceptable and leads to no positive outcomes for anyone. Certainly not for the animals.
Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Today's guest blogger is Laura Donahue, Virginia State Director for the Humane Society of the United States.
Say the words “animal fighting” and many know exactly what we’re talking about, but say the words “fox penning” and most will be shocked that this cruel activity is right in our backyard.
Fox penning, the releasing of dogs inside fenced enclosures to chase down – and often rip apart – captive foxes, happens right here in Virginia. It’s terribly inhumane to the animals and dangerously risky for surrounding wildlife. Food stations attract wildlife, including bears, into the electric-fenced pens where they become trapped and risk being mauled by dogs. Devastating diseases like rabies have been directly linked to fox pens. On top of all that, dogs are often run to the point of exhaustion and those that don’t perform well are often dumped on shelters or left in the woods.
The bottom line is this: animal cruelty does not belong in the Commonwealth, and you and your dog can help put an end to it. Upload a photo of your dog with a sign asking Governor McDonnell to ban fox pens in Virginia - like the one of Roscoe, pictured. Be sure to include what city your pup is from. You can submit your photo here: http://bit.ly/VADogs or email it to virginia@humanesociety.org. View fellow canines here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/humanesociety/tags/vafoxpen/.
With your help, we can send Governor McDonnell the clear message that fox pens do not belong in Virginia.
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