Letter: Against wolf and bear hunting by Barbara Moore

Editor:

Some of us ride horses in the woods. We’ve seen bear, including a mother and her three cubs. The bears always stop in their tracks; the horses also stop.
We let the bears decide what to do. The mother ran part way up the hill, and then looked back. Three babies scrambled out of the brush by the road to their mother. My granddaughter on her horse and I were thrilled to see them. In 35 years, I have never seen a wolf.

The only time I was attacked in the woods was when I was charged by a collared hound dog. The dog came up from behind and went for my horse’s back legs. My horse kicked him so hard he smashed his tracking collar.

Judge Anderson, there is no difference in training dogs to fight each other for man’s pleasure and gambling (it is illegal, isn’t it?) and hounds used to find and trap bears and now for baiting wolves. The bear hunters are notorious for asking for reimbursement for their injured and dead dogs. Do “forgotten” traps make a year-long hunting season? Do people walking through the woods have to worry about their dogs, horses or themselves being trapped?

Do we have to carry wire clippers with us at all times? Why does killing make these “hunters” so proud?

Sincerely, 

Barbara Moore, Gleason