JUST SOME MORE THOUGHTS ON WHAT I AGAIN SEE AS A COMPLEX ISSUE, in no particular order:
[QUOTE=EqTrainer;2931378]
JSwan, do you actually live somewhere that you can call the game warden and get a response in a reasonable amount of time?
I have read this thread with great interest, because we have a terrible problem here with hunting dogs running through our and our neighbors properties. Let’s face it - the people turning them loose KNOW DAMN WELL that they are going to, at some point, most likely end up where they don’t belong. The total area I am discussing here, including my land, is less than 100 acres. The bottom line is, they use the law to cover their illegal intentions. The good news is, the law says I can shoot any animal harrassing my livestock. If my horses start running because someone’s dogs are in the creek next to my pasture, on my land, I consider that harrassment and I will begin shooting. In fact, I plan my gun purchase to be made tomorrow.
When driving home tonight, there were people in the woods across the street from my land (posted no hunting) at 11:00 “looking for their dogs”. What the eff.
[endquote]
What EqTrainer said, far more eloquently than I TRIED to do in an earlier post, describes the problems landowners are having. Whether trying to see the situation from the landowners’ perspective is useful or not, only those opposed can say.
Our next-door neighbor (with 20 acres next to our 36) stopped us on our shared driveway last Sat to comment on all the anti-hunting letters he’s seen in the papers lately (I had not noticed this myself). I mentioned the thought that new landowners or people moving into new subdivisions in formerly rural areas aren’t used to “country ways” – and he cut me off with an emphatic “SO WHAT.” He’s 2nd or 3rd generation on his place, but even so he can sympathize with feeling like your land should be your land, however long you’ve owned it.
I kind of blinked in surprise at his vehemence, then got to thinking about what he said.
As I said in my earlier post, I think it’s a complicated issue, because I do think that people should be able to have a reasonable amount of control over their own property, however long they’ve owned it, but I also love and can only thrive in a rural lifestyle that is fast disappearing.
I find compelling EqTrainer’s contention that, if folks want to hunt, they should buy land to hunt themselves, or perhaps form a hunt club that can collectively buy said land. Large enough tracts that it can reasonably be expected that dogs won’t cross onto posted property.
And I also wish/hope that fewer people with land will decide to sell it to developers!
And, a couple of times it’s been said, work with game wardens/law enforcement about the illegal activity you’re seeing. But, as EqTrainer says, that’s the problem: you are getting harrassed, and it’s perfectly legal. Because absolutely hunters say they are just retrieving (or looking for) their dogs, if they are trespassing. And it’s the dogs themselves that are often the problem when they upset your own animals, who are duly enclosed on their own property. Yes, I know I could legally shoot them, but frankly I just can’t do that. Because I’m too much of a dog lover, and animal lover, and I guess plenty would say I’m some kind of strange bleeding-heart type.
Sadly, I do see a number of truly heartbreaking skin-and-bones hunting dogs each year. Saw one on Thursday, as I was driving home with one of my own dogs who had just had a chemo treatment. Because my dog’s immune system is greatly suppressed from chemo, I didn’t want to stop right then and there to try to coax the stray dog to me. The dog was only about a 1/4 mile or less from my house. I got my dog home and situated, grabbed some dog food, and jumped in the ATV. I was so sorry that even in that short a time, I couldn’t find the dog. I had seen that he had a regular collar, and I took my cell with me so I could call if I could read a nameplate. While I was out, I saw my neighbor’s mother and asked her to keep an eye out for the dog, too, as they already have adopted an abandoned hunting dog (and are just good people) and I knew they’d be sympathetic.
Of course, many, many hunting dogs look perfectly fit. But you truly do see some that are very close to death from starvation. Often they are too wary for you to approach and help them.
As a corollary, it makes me shudder to think what will happen when NAIS spreads to [other] companion animals (because my horses are companion animals to me), and because a hunting dog has run across my property, the gov’t officials will decide my animals have been exposed to something. Hope I’m being way “out there” in thinking that’s a possibility … I know VHDOA lobbied against VA’s ridiculous mandated notification by vets to counties and munipalities of dogs that have received rabies vaccinations. I suppose there’s no immediate reason for taking a position on NAIS, though, unless they see it, as I do, as potentially affecting every animal.
Back to EqTrainer’s post: I too would love to see special considerations given to foxhunters. As I said in my previous post, foxhounds are hunted differently from, say, deer dogs, and it has been my experience that they just don’t cause the same issues, as they are closely followed by staff that keep them on a line and work to take them off a line if the dogs are headed for a busy road, or about to cross into unpermitted land, etc. I know many dog hunters will not want to make any such distinctions, but what I’ve said simply describes my experience.
Alright, I’ve run on far too long. I know many will disagree with things I’ve said. But I think the length of this thread shows that the issue affects a lot of people.
