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VA hunters.

got this in a email this evenin thought id pass it along.

Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare


Alert 2/4/08 HUNTING DOG ABANDONMENT

We have received a great many contacts, particularly in the last several months, about hunting dogs.

The most common issues are:

hunting dogs are abandoned in large numbers as the hunting season ends
hunting dogs are sometimes shot as the hunting season ends as a way to avoid responsibility for feeding and otherwise caring for the dogs

hunting dogs are frequently abandoned with identification removed

hunting dogs are frequently found as road kill, or - perhaps even worse - left to die after being injured by cars and trucks

hunters seeking to retrieve their dogs come on private property without notice, often on property where the property owner has - under control - their own dogs and sometimes horses, causing great concern to the property owner and great risk for the property owner's dogs and horses

hunters seeking to retrieve dogs send a member of the hunting party onto private property to retrieve the dog(s) with others in the hunting party remaining at the fence with weapons

hunters often have their dogs in the back of a pick-up, sometimes tethered, sometimes not, and drive Virginia's roads with these dogs so unsafely confined

Hunting is legal in Virginia. Hunting with dogs is legal in Virginia. However, abandoning and otherwise mistreating dogs is not legal in Virginia. And Virginia law does not address hunting dogs differently than it addresses "pet" dogs.

We have received enough concerned contacts that it may be appropriate to address this issue.

We need a small group willing to steer this.

Please let us know if you want to work on this - not just hear about it, but really work on this.

And all of you - whether you work on this or not - start keeping a log. Be rigorous/disciplined about keeping it. Record what you see, photograph it and date it, get others to do the same, find others to work with you. This includes ensuring that all records about hunting dogs (all dog records should be scrupulously maintained) coming through a public pound are fully and accurately maintained including euthanasia records. Note if euthanasia rates increase with large numbers of abandoned animals as the pounds simply lack sufficient space, and hounds have not proved to be dogs adopters seek.

Enough is enough.

__________________
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. ~ Unknown


Sometimes we are so busy countin up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings....