Post by James Curry on Dec 2, 2005 9:25:00 GMT -5
Animal rights activists, hunters battling over ‘hog-dog rodeos’
Associated Press
03-26-2005
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A backwoods sport called “hog-dog rodeo” that pits dogs against wild boars has hunters and animal rights activists squaring off against each other again.
“The object is to tear up the pig,” said Laurie Green of Nashville, founder of the Southern Alliance for Animal Welfare. She favors a law to ban the activity, which puts dogs into a ring with boars with blunted tusks.
But some hunters worry laws like the hog-dog proposal someday will lead to a ban on hunting.
“Our biggest fear is they keep adding animals to the list,” said Rodney Burris, 40, of Benton in East Tennessee, where several thousand wild boars roam the rugged hills and hollows.
Burris is vice president of the Cherokee Houndsman Association, whose members use dogs to hunt boars in the Cherokee National Forest.
In so-called “hog-dog rodeos,” dogs - often pit bulls or American bulldogs - are put into a ring with boars whose tusks have been blunted with bolt cutters. The dogs are judged by how quickly they take down the hogs, which can grow to 200 pounds.
The contests stem from the pastime of hog hunting, in which hunters use dogs to find, chase, corner and sometimes take down the hog, said Sherry Rout of Memphis, a representative of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Burris said dogs used in his hunting club are trained to bay, but not to catch hogs. But animal welfare advocates said bay competitions often serve as cover for hog-dog contests.
“It’s a pretty well-known fact that at these bay comps (competitions), there’s a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, and when the sun goes down, things change,” said John Goodwin, deputy manager for animal-fighting issues at the Humane Society of the United States.
The Tennessee bill would make it illegal to own or train a hog for the purpose of fighting, baiting or injuring another animal for amusement or sport. State law already protects bulls, bears, dogs, cocks and “other animals.”
Existing law also protects hunters, according to Sen. Curtis Person, R-Memphis, who is sponsoring the bill. Person said the prohibition does not apply to training or using hunting dogs for sport.
The bill is scheduled for hearings on Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.
States with documented hog-dog rodeos include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas, according to Person’s office.
Louisiana passed a law last year to prohibit hog-dog rodeos. A similar bill failed in Mississippi, Rout said. South Carolina, like Tennessee, has a law pending this year.
www.dailyhome.com/news/2005/as-nation-0325-0-5c25a0706.htm
Associated Press
03-26-2005
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A backwoods sport called “hog-dog rodeo” that pits dogs against wild boars has hunters and animal rights activists squaring off against each other again.
“The object is to tear up the pig,” said Laurie Green of Nashville, founder of the Southern Alliance for Animal Welfare. She favors a law to ban the activity, which puts dogs into a ring with boars with blunted tusks.
But some hunters worry laws like the hog-dog proposal someday will lead to a ban on hunting.
“Our biggest fear is they keep adding animals to the list,” said Rodney Burris, 40, of Benton in East Tennessee, where several thousand wild boars roam the rugged hills and hollows.
Burris is vice president of the Cherokee Houndsman Association, whose members use dogs to hunt boars in the Cherokee National Forest.
In so-called “hog-dog rodeos,” dogs - often pit bulls or American bulldogs - are put into a ring with boars whose tusks have been blunted with bolt cutters. The dogs are judged by how quickly they take down the hogs, which can grow to 200 pounds.
The contests stem from the pastime of hog hunting, in which hunters use dogs to find, chase, corner and sometimes take down the hog, said Sherry Rout of Memphis, a representative of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Burris said dogs used in his hunting club are trained to bay, but not to catch hogs. But animal welfare advocates said bay competitions often serve as cover for hog-dog contests.
“It’s a pretty well-known fact that at these bay comps (competitions), there’s a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, and when the sun goes down, things change,” said John Goodwin, deputy manager for animal-fighting issues at the Humane Society of the United States.
The Tennessee bill would make it illegal to own or train a hog for the purpose of fighting, baiting or injuring another animal for amusement or sport. State law already protects bulls, bears, dogs, cocks and “other animals.”
Existing law also protects hunters, according to Sen. Curtis Person, R-Memphis, who is sponsoring the bill. Person said the prohibition does not apply to training or using hunting dogs for sport.
The bill is scheduled for hearings on Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.
States with documented hog-dog rodeos include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas, according to Person’s office.
Louisiana passed a law last year to prohibit hog-dog rodeos. A similar bill failed in Mississippi, Rout said. South Carolina, like Tennessee, has a law pending this year.
www.dailyhome.com/news/2005/as-nation-0325-0-5c25a0706.htm