I didn't know if folks on here were following what is going on in Virginia with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries regarding hound hunting. This link is of interest to all hunting dog people, in every state:

http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.ph ... did=166287



-Marc

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-Squirrel_Hunter_Gray

Gray's Mountain Feist
http://graysfeist.yolasite.com/

Join the forum today and remove this ad!

Bill Cochran has printed part of a letter from VHDA Interim Co-Chairman Dr. Bryan Morris on Bill’s web site.

http://www.roanoke.com/outdoors/billcochran/mail/wb/xp-index



This is the first effort to expand our communications to Alliance members. Tell your friends to go to http://www.vahda.org and join the Alliance. In the coming weeks we will continue to spread the word!



We need your help to get the Hunt Clubs to join the Alliance and getting their members to sign up.


Hound hunting debate mounts
Bill Cochran

BILL: My name is Bryan Morris and I am the president of the United Eastern Virginia Hunting Dog Association and interim co-chair of the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance. I am writing in reference to our position with the hound hunting study and the resolution that has passed the Board of Supervisors in several Southside Virginia counties.

The resolution in question merely emphasizes to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries that these counties are in favor of hound hunting, which plays a large part in their local economies. The resolution does state opposition for the current study by the DGIF and Virginia Tech.

The reasoning behind our opposition is as follows:

The impetus for the study is a reported increase in complaints [about hound hunters], but no numbers have been reported to substantiate this claim. Mr. [Bob] Duncan, [DGIF wildlife chief], was asked about the number of complaints, and was unable to give an estimate. We would like to be informed of the specific number and nature of the complaints, which sparked this study.

The study will be expensive. We have not been told the cost, but Virginia Tech advertised the assistant’s position at $30,000 per year with full faculty benefits. We do not see this as a judicious use of our licensing fees.

The profile of the focus group members continues to change. The original proposal involved a group of hunters that used dogs meeting to identify problems and offering options or proposals before legislation was imposed. When the study was announced at the DGIF June meeting, it was to include not only houndsmen, but also animal-welfare group members, still hunters, hikers and landowners.

As opposition to the study arose, we were then told that 70 percent of the study participants would be houndsmen. Now we are told houndsmen will make up 50 percent. How are we to be certain that the methods are not being changed to insure a predetermined outcome?

Mr. Duncan has stated on several occasions that there may be no changes made or legislative proposals. This is very difficult to believe. The results of this study will most certainly be the basis of proposed legislation. The backing of Virginia Tech and the DGIF will give enough credence to any bill to guarantee its path through the legislature. The original process would have allowed for houndsmen to work with the DGIF to institute programs and practices that would not involve restrictive legislation.

The method by which individuals are picked to be on the focus group is also questionable. What insurance is there to guard against “cherry picking?” How can we insure that our interests are being protected? The results of inquiry into a bear baiting issue by the DGIF, resulted in a proposal to ban tracking collars. No matter how “well intended” the resulting proposal was ill conceived and misguided. The issue was baiting, not telemetry.

In short, the study is unfounded and costly. It has questionable composition, means and methods. Therefore, the results will be questionable. Since this study will be the basis of upcoming legislation that will have the backing it needs to easily pass the legislature, we find it unacceptable in its current form.

We recognize that there are issues to address. We want to be part of the solution and not have it imposed upon us. We urge all of our membership to be courteous and professional. Information on the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance can be found at vahda.org.

BRYAN MORRIS
DVM

BILL: The hound hunting debate has gotten out of hand every time it’s been brought up. I just wish people would understand that we are all hunters and if we don’t stick together in some fashion it will be the downfall of us all.

FREDDY MCGUIRE

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We all need to talk to our represenatives and let them know how we feel. It is also our responsibility to alert all houndsmen and all hunters that our rights are being challenged by people that know nothing of hunting or hounds. Please EVERYONE TELL SOMEONE! This is our future as well as the future of our children. We can not wait until laws have been passed or the Constitution has been ammended to say anything. Even someone that does not hound hunt or fish needs to realize that our rights are being taken.

I am at work right now and only have a few minutes and not enough to read about all the problems going on with hunting with hounds..but I do know of the Virginia Hunting Dog Owners Assc. I think Bob Kane is the president and he has always been helpful. My brother coon hunts, I fox hunt and everybody I know runs dogs during deer season and well this is important and I really have to go to work now...so anyways...can someone explain breifly what the deal is with the hound hunting regs?

_________________
"fake it til ya make it"




Timber Chopper Boomer(rip) and Hard Headed Hana


my pretty little Hana Banana : )

http://myspace.com/johndeere855

The Humane Society of the United States has to be delighted with all the positive publicity it is receiving as a result of its campaign to expose so-called puppy mills in Virginia. That includes two news articles and an editorial in The Roanoke Times.

This should means more contributions headed toward its already bulging budget, money that can be used for its less obvious agenda items: like stopping hunting.

HSUS has little to do with the dedicated, overworked and underpaid people who operate local animal shelters. It is an animal-rights organization with the same goals as PETA, only it is bigger, richer and smarter.

Wayne Pacelle, president of HSUS, who has been quoted in the puppy mill stories, also has been quoted elsewhere as saying, “If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would.”

The HSUS not only has a disdain for hunting, but also for animal circus acts, rodeos, horse racing, marine aquariums and a breakfast of bacon and eggs.

When it goes up against hunting, it often leads with opposition to canned hunts, something even legitimate hunters can agree on, but it also targets dove hunting, bear hunting and preserve hunting where birds are stocked, practices it sees as vulnerable. It opposes Sunday hunting and efforts to recruit new hunters, especially youth.

What it doesn’t do is provide money for wildlife habitat in anyway that is close to the contributions made by hunters. It points to its new Wildlife Land Trust as a habitat preservation effort, yet landowners who place their property in the HSUS trust must agree to prohibit hunting.

The HSUS has a head of steam moving into the 2008 Virginia General Assembly. Any legislation it supports must be given careful scrutiny.

DO YOUR PART TODAY AND JOIN VIRGINIA HUNTING DOG ALLIANCE AND PRESERVE YOUR HERITAGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance



NEWS ALERT



In simultaneous Sunday morning raids VDGIF agents shut down fox pens across Virginia. The real reasons behind this action are not clear at this time, but since the citations given to some pen owners (one dog owner whose hunting license had expired 24 hours earlier was found inside one pen, one 2 week old fox fur ball found inside a pen) certainly do not seem to rise to shutdown level. Some of those at the Wylliesburg meeting (Mecklenburg Co.) recall Bob Duncan saying that “the coyote experiments were over for now” and that some out of state animals were being brought in and bringing exotic diseases with them.



Dr. Bryan Morris, VHDA Co-Chairman reports that DGIF Commission member Ward Burton says the commission knew nothing of this “sting”. The “sting” has been the culmination of an 18 month study involving 9 states

(presumably by U.S. Fish & Wildlife). They are supposed to have a meeting with pen owners in Mecklenburg, where they “promise to expedite getting the pens open that have minor infractions.” This was a major operation with undercover agents selling illegal game to the pens.



It is reported that Billy Pools big pen, Noel Atkins pen and one other remain open. Billy Poole told VHDA representatives that he had not been keeping proper records. Davy Hackett reported that he had the records but not in the proper format. They had mentioned to him that the question of illegal animal purchases would come up.



One can only wonder if the cost of this effort will produce results of equal benefit to the Sportsmen of Virginia. We will try to provide more information as it becomes available.



Check the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance website at www. vahda.org for more information

A statement by Colonel Mike Bise of Chief DGIF Law Enforcement Division:



Mike Bise
Date Posted: Nov 12, 07 - 10:12 AM
Email: mike.bise@dgif.virginia .gov
Message: As Chief of Law Enforcement at DGIF I am taking the unusual step of responding to this matter due to the fact that there is so much more behind the scenes.

For the past 18 months we have been participating with 9 other staes in a covert operation investigating the interstate commercialization of wildlife, primarily foxes and coyotes. The primary market driving this commercialization is fox hound training pens. This interstate venture is a hundreds of thousands of dollars industy.

Three issues loom large here: 1) commercialization of our wildlife resources should turn the stomach of any hunter or outdoorsman, and has been illegal for a century or so. 2)Translocation of any wildlife conjures up many disease issues. 3) The conditions we found in SOME pens during the covert investigation were abhorant. Due to media releases by involved states, the public will learn of these conditions.

Due to all the above, our approach was a comprehensive compliance inspection of Virginia pens. Any violations found resulted in a temporary suspension until we can get a better handle on the overall situation discoverd in the covert operation. Some Virginia pens clearly purchased imported, illegal wildlife; thousands of dolars worth.

This has nothing to do with the hound issues. It has everything to do with potential felony violations of long standing state and federal wildife protection laws. I hope you undersstand this is something we must deal with.

Arrests Disrupt Fox Pen 'Sport'
By JAY REEVES, The Associated Press

Published: November 13, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Authorities seized dozens of animals and charged 18 men from four states in what they described Monday as a new twist on the sport of fox hunting: releasing trapped animals into fenced pens so they can be chased down by dogs.

The suspects, from Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin, face jail time and fines up to $225,000, said Allan Andress, chief of enforcement for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The arrests capped a two-year investigation and resulted in the seizure of 55 foxes, 25 coyotes and two bobcats, Andress said. Agents also seized a moonshine still and 33 cardinals that apparently were used as bait.

Officials said the investigation included agents from Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, where game regulators said they shut down 36 of 41 foxhound training facilities for permit violations. Charges are pending.

The men charged in Alabama are accused in an operation where trappers allegedly captured animals and transported them to Alabama to be placed into "fox pens," Andress said. Pen operators charge dog owners about $25 to release a dog into the pen, where the animal then chases down a fox or coyote for sport.

"It's simply for the pleasure of the hunter to have his hounds do well," Andress said. "The foxes or coyotes are frequently killed, otherwise they wouldn't have to keep putting new animals in there."

Operating a fox pen isn't illegal as long as the prey gets inside on its own and has a chance to escape, Andress said. But capturing animals and placing them inside the pen to be hunted is illegal.

One of the men accused of illegally importing animals into Alabama, Harold Widder of Antigo, Wis., denied trafficking in wild animals and said "everything got out of hand."

"These were not wild animals or anything. These are ranch-raised animals," he said. "I just made a wrong turn and wound up in the wrong state."

Widder was charged with 45 counts of illegal importation of animals, and each count carries a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail.

Andress said all 18 suspects either trapped, transported, bought or sold a prohibited animal.

A FEW ROUGE INDIVIDUALS COULD RUIN A GREAT THING FOR VIRGINIA HUNTING DOG OWNERS. LAWS ARE TO BE FOLLOWED, IT'S THAT SIMPLE. IT'S NOT THE GAME COMISSIONS FAULT THEY ARE MERELY ENFORCING THE LAWS

VIRGINIA HUNTING DOG ALLIANCE HAS AN AGENDA AND THE CURRENT EVENTS HASN'T CHANGED THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE DGIF BOARD. WE NEED ALL VIRGINIA HUNTERS TO SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS AND STAND UNITED IN THIS FIGHT. PLEASE GO TO OUR WEBSITE TODAY AND JOIN IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY.

HTTP://VAHDA.ORG

VIRGINIA HUNTING DOG ALLIANCE WANTS EVERYONE TO START CALLING YOUR LEGISLATOR AND GOVERNOR AND ASK THEM DIRECTLY TO " SUPPORT THE VIRGINIA HUNTING DOG ALLIANCE AND OUR EFFORTS TO DE-POLITIZE THE DGIF BOARD BY RESTRUCTURING THE BOARD SO THAT THE SIX POSITIONS ARE APPOINTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ARE NO LONGER " AT WILL" POSITIONS.

YOU CAN USE THE LINK BELOW TO FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR

http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

This fight is not about the DGIF study, it is about a Governor that has stacked the Board of DGIF with folks that will do his will regardless of the consequences. The study is a distraction, a ruse. He has already said to "friends" that he will introduce legislation to make it a misdemeanor to leave a dog out for more than 3 days (maybe he will teach us to talk to them so they will come home more quickly)! He says he is going to end the chase seasons on all game during spring turkey, fall archery and muzzle-loading seasons. His divide and conquer tactics will only work if we Sportsmen don't reach out to non-dog hunting sportsmen. Remember this is the same Tim Kaine that, as Mayor of the City of Richmond, used taxpayer money to send six bus loads of demonstrators to the "Million Mom March Against Guns" in Washington D.C. When confronted with the facts by the Richmond Times Dispatch, he lied about it. After they stayed on him, Kaine said he did it, but that he had the authority to do so. A week later he finally agreed that he should repay the money! Six months later a group of prominent liberals re-paid the money (but no interest).

This time Tim Kaine is using Sportsmen's license money to fund a bogus study to distract you. The study is going to release its findings in 2008 or 2009 in time for the next Governor to deal with. But Tim Kaine already has the conclusions he wants and has told "friends" about them! He will introduce them after this year's elections on November 6. You probably won't hear about them in the newspaper because they will be covered up with budget stories. P.E.T.A. and the Humane Society of the US are the groups behind this effort. Animal rights activists have made this a major political issue and the Governor is going to listen to his allies.

The real issue before the Sportsmen of Virginia is the conduct of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Do we want an agency that defends hunters and promotes our Heritage instead of treating us as if we are all criminals? Do we want to support an agency that puts law enforcement ahead of resource stewardship? Millions have been spent for non-game programs, while quail populations have dwindled with little or no funding for research or habitat improvement. Wildlife biologists have complained that State Parks do a better job of managing wildlife resources than they are allowed to do on Wildlife Management areas! Do we want an agency that spends our license money for their personal use and is generally wasteful of its financial resources and then cries for more money and higher license fees?

For too long DGIF has promoted its arrest of game violators with press releases telling of more than a hundred criminal violations only to get convictions on four or five charges because the rest were trumped up! DGIF has many dedicated professional staff members that are our friends, but they are being driven out of the agency by poor treatment and even poorer management!

We need to return a Department of Game and Inland Fisheries devoted to promoting our sport, in the schools, colleges and universities of Virginia so that mothers raising their children will want to be involved in a wholesome family oriented activity that promotes individual responsibility, self reliance and stewardship of our God given resources.

Remember that the Governor proposes, but the General Assembly disposes. This battle will be fought and won or lost in the legislature. On November 6, 2007, every member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate will be up for grabs. If you aren't registered to vote, do it today, you only have until October 9th. Then go and talk to all candidates running in your area and see where they stand on the issues. If they won't pledge to SPECIFICALLY support your Heritage then don't vote for them! Elect No Strangers. If you don't go in person to see your legislators, phone them. They pay little attention to email messages and none to petitions. Remember to be polite and disagree only when you can be civil or be quiet!

You all need to do this today! Excuses will not mean much if you have to tell your child or grandchildren that we used to be able to hunt in Virginia. The people of Great Britain have lost fox hunting, the Australians have lost the right to own guns and we have let them take God from our schools... How much more are you going to let them get away with??? More than Ten Thousand Virginians have joined the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance and Commonwealth Sportsmen's Alliance standing shoulder to shoulder to stop this nonsense.

H. Kirby Burch
Chairman
Commonwealth Sportsmen's Alliance PAC
P.O. Box 657
Powhatan, Virginia 23139

Dear Virginia Friends,

The November 6th, 2007 election of 100 General Assembly Delegates and 40 Senators was both hotly contested and extremely expensive. The principal election news involved the Democrats net gain of four Senate seats in Fairfax County and Tidewater and control of that chamber for the first time since 1997.

The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) endorsed twenty-nine Virginia legislators, sixteen Senate and nine House Democrats, plus four House GOP members. Twenty-seven of them were elected, or 93%. Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-SD37) was narrowly reelected despite HSUS's paid attack advertising and animal rightist door to door canvassing against him.

Retirements and successful challenges resulted in nine new Senators and ten Delegates. While none of these freshmen legislators is thought to be animal rightist or anti-hunting inclined, we have very significant cause for concern. The restructuring of the Senate has resulted in senior Democrats with disturbing agendas assuming key committee chairmanships. Numerous previously defeated bad animal bills are expected to be reintroduced in January and are much more likely to receive positive Senate consideration.

This dangerous situation is further compounded by the ill-founded "Virginia is for Puppy Mills" campaign of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) and repercussions arising from the Vick dog fighting ring arrests. No, you aren't a miller or involved in dog fighting, but you are almost certainly going to be swept up in the emotionally charged atmosphere of the 2008 session's rush to pass new restrictive animal laws under new leadership. Three House GOP committee chairmen also retired, creating additional uncertainty in that chamber.

The following old and new bills are expected be on the 2008 General Assembly's docket:

Statewide dog tag cap raised to $35-50 for intact animals. A much lower fee will be required for sterilized dogs, even when such a differential loses revenue. Discounted kennel licenses for 10 or more dogs will require the owner to waive his privacy rights. Unannounced, warrantless "inspections" by animal control officers and volunteer "humane investigators" will be permitted; no probable cause of neglect or cruelty will be required. Note: there is no established standard for private facility inspections.

Small hobby breeders will be classified as "pet dealers," licensed and subject to commercial rules, including unannounced inspections.

Mandatory spay-neuter for most (all?) pets.

Mandatory microchipping for most (all?) canines.

Statewide tethering restrictions.

"Potentially dangerous" dogs.

Ban on dog owner tail docking and dew claw removal of new bornes.

Revised definition of "running at large" focused on hunting dogs.

Humane education SOL requirement in K-12 curriculum.

More volunteer humane investigators.

Animal protective orders and required cruelty cross reporting.

Tax credits for animal adoption and pet spay-neuter.

The above list isn't complete, as it only represents those bills currently being considered. Intrusive, no warrant inspections by ill-trained or untrained personnel is a new HSUS animal rightist initiative. Virginia's 2007 "Gotcha" rabies based licensing and identification system ensures that all of these measures can be strictly enforced, along with local pet limit ordinances.

Past failures of organized Old Dominion dog owners to fully understand these threats and to cooperate during General Assembly sessions, if repeated, virtually guarantee this agenda's adoption. VHDOA again stands ready to work with the officers and members of the clubs listed at http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/vfdcb.html and others to protect our sport and animals.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Hunting Hounds Study.

DGIF's controversial Future of Hunting Hounds Study kicked off earlier this month with invited houndsmen focus group meetings in Farmville and Roanoke. http://www.dgif.state.va.us/hunting/hounds/ Seven additional focus group meetings, chaired by VT professor Steve McMullin, will be held during December. Shortly after the end of these information exchange sessions, a stakeholder group, representing various hunting and nonhunting interests, will be named to consider rule and statute changes.

Freely forward and cross post.

Sincerely,

Bob Kane, President
Virginia Hunting Dog Owners' Association
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/

Tuesday Dec 4, Coonhunter meeting at the Va Game Commision on Broad St in Richmond, Va. This is a meeting for the hound hunting study. Meeting will be from 7 til 9 pm.