HELP BAN COYOTE & FOX PENNING IN INDIANA

YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED!

As you may recall from our previous action alerts sent our earlier this year, the Indiana Natural Resources Commission (INRC) is considering a proposed rule to legalize the practice of coyote/fox penning (penning involves sending packs of domestic dogs into a fenced-off enclosure to chase to exhaustion and often tear apart a captive coyote or fox- ostensibly to “train” hunting hounds how to better pursue and hunt coyotes and foxes in the wild).

Unfortunately, after proposing rules to outlaw the practice in March of this year, the INRC did a 180• reversal and is now proposing to legalize coyote/fox penning – as a direct result of pressure from the NRA and pro-penning organizations. Now more than ever, we need your help to stop the INRC from legalizing this blood “sport”. Your voice matters!

This comes on the heals of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voting unanimously to PERMANENTLY ban coyote and fox pens statewide earlier this year after public pressure, media exposure, and a multi-state undercover investigation of penning operations led to the arrest of 12 people and the issuance of 46 citations for various violations. The investigation showed how difficult- if not impossible- it is to enforce rules on a practice that is inherently fraught with illicit and unethical behavior.

Now we need to convince the INRC to do the same!

Even if you have already done so, please submit a letter to the INRC using their website urging them to reject the proposal to legalize coyote/fox penning and instead adopt rules to permanently ban this practice. And we encourage all to submit comments- including those who live outside of Indiana as these will be considered in the official record and we need to show strong support for a ban. You must include your full name and address for your comments to be counted in the official record.

To submit a comment online:

• Go to: www.in.gov/nrc/2377.htm
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and find the Coyote/Fox Dog Training Grounds rule
• Click on Comment on this rule
• Enter the required information in the boxes provided
• Express (courteously) your concerns about this issue and that the inherent cruelty and abuse associated with coyote/fox penning simply cannot be regulated through rule (see suggested talking points below)

SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR LETTER (please personalize your letter and use your own words as this will have a much greater impact):

• ETHICALLY INDEFENSIBLE: Capturing, transporting, marketing, and penning wild animals for dog training is inherently cruel and should be banned for this reason alone. Pitting domestic canines against their wild cousins is ethically indefensible. Legislators have had the wisdom to ban dog and cock-fighting – largely on ethical grounds – and “penning” parallels these abhorrent practices. Penned wild coyotes and foxes are often mutilated in a cruel and unconscionable way- as acknowledged by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

• ECOLOGICALLY RECKLESS: Transporting and marketing wild coyotes and foxes for penning purposes is ecologically reckless. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources explicitly stated these concerns acknowledging that trade and transportation of wildlife is one of the primary contributors to disease transmission and historically has led to the spread of rabies and other diseases dangerous to wildlife, domestic animals and people.

• COUNTER TO SOUND SCIENTIFIC WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: Coyote and fox penning is not an effective method of coyote and fox control as acknowledged by numerous and prominent scientists and wildlife biologists. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that penning operations somehow help reduce coyote/fox populations on a state-wide level or mitigate negative encounters with coyotes or foxes. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has acknowledged that there are ecological, ethical, and disease and health related issues associated with penning. Moreover, the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies passed a resolution in 2008 urging the adoption of state-by-state regulations prohibiting the importation or interstate movement of foxes and coyotes for the purpose of stocking coursing pens or for release and pursuit by hounds outside of coursing pens.

Please also contact Governor Mitch Daniels and urge him to prohibit the practice of coyote/fox penning statewide:

The Honorable Governor Mitch Daniels
Office of the Governor
Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Email the Governor
317-232-4567

THANK YOU FOR WRITING AND MAKING YOUR VOICE HEARD! FEEL FREE TO FORWARD AND SHARE THIS ACTION ALERT WITH OTHERS!

Camilla H. Fox
Executive Director

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More information on this issue:

• Read Project Coyote and the Animal Welfare Institute’s letter on this issue, signed by more than 60 scientists, veterinarians, attorneys, and ethicists.

• Read a compelling letter, signed by a dozen Indiana veterinarians urging for a ban on coyote/fox penning, published in the Indiana Journal Gazette

• Read my blog post – Coyote & Fox Penning: A Blood “Sport” That Must End”- in the Huffington Post

• Visit: Training Not Torture website

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu1ImXnMbMc (filmed in Indiana)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9c0KaLjKrI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MhNRwOtJNQ&feature=relatedcoyoteinfo.typepad.com
news.mync.com/site/news/video/6057/Fox_and_Coyote_Hunt_Ban
www.youtube.com/user/wildlifepenning
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNVMu8jSYD8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mom_wMCNshw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gd94TA58Ag
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbb_nKIy_i4&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-HM

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Project Coyote is a non-profit fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute that promotes educated coexistence between people and coyotes and advocates on behalf of coyotes and other native carnivores. We depend on our members and supporters to help us continue our work on behalf of America’s native “song dog.” Please join us today! All donations are tax-deductible. Visit us at www.ProjectCoyote.org.