Thursday, November 15, 2007
More on the emboldened Humane Society
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL: Thanks for helping expose the “big lie” of the Humane Society of the United States (last week’s Cochran Field Reports). In your list of what they’re against, you missed service dogs, therapy dogs, search and rescue and even pets. I bet those vegan diabetics don’t know, until recently, insulin was made from pigs and estrogen from horse mares.
CAROL HAMILTON
BILL: I agree with you completely about the Humane Society of the United Sates. I do love domesticated animals; we have two beagles now, and am concerned for their welfare.
This hubbub going on in Carroll County seems to have emboldened the HSUS. I do not see them helping my local animal shelter which is starved for volunteers, and money. If their aim is to stop hunting, then I can definitely see their method of delivery.
Going back to Carroll County, how is it that the HSUS can step in and take this man's dogs? Can you imagine if the dogs had been hunting breeds? I understand he is over the limit, but who are they to say beyond that. I mean he's not been charged with an offense and even the news reporter and the county representative said that they thought the dogs looked well cared for. Carroll County issued him a business license; they knew what he had going up there. I agree that this is a thinly veiled way to gain attention, supporters and the almighty dollar.
JAY SMITH
BILL: After reading your recent information/comments about the HSUS, I thought you might like to know about this romance novel by Ron Hevener. It is titled “High Stakes” and is a fictionalized expose that uncovers the dark side of big business in the organized animal rights movement. It is available from Amazon.com or from the author at ronhevener.com.
B.D.
BILL: Instead of the Virginia Bowhunters Association spending energy to block an extra week of muzzleloading season west of the Blue Ridge (last week’s Cochran column), they should be lobbying the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for an earlier opening of the archery season. I am not aware of any reason other than tradition that dictates archery season has to start on the first Saturday in October. The opening of urban archery season has been pushed back to the first of September in 2008. Why not lobby for the statewide archery season to do the same, or at the very least slip back a week or so?
If, as they stated, their opposition is based on wanting to hunt “unspooked deer” this would be a win-win for everyone. They would gain a longer season and the DGIF might move closer to their goal of reducing the deer herd. Sure, it is warmer during the timeframe, but our archery season in North Carolina starts the first Saturday in September and although I wore a mosquito net over a t-shirt and shorts, I was able to harvest three deer during the month of September.
We need to stop getting into fights with each other. The bowhunters, crossbow hunters and gun hunters all share the same resource, including an abundance of deer. When we start thinking in terms of “our deer” and “our season” we are playing right into the hands of the folks who would love to shut down hunting all together.
AL KITTREDGE
Fayetteville, N.C.
