by Alana Linsay Stevenson, M.S.

There has been a moratorium on coyote hounding via Act 165. The Fish and Wildlife Board and Department were instructed to address control of hunting hounds for the moratorium to be lifted. Not surprisingly, the Board’s recommendations to regulate themselves fell significantly short of any improvement.

The Board’s solution to hounders lacking control over dogs was to require that hounds wear remote shock collars with GPS.

Remote collars won’t control hunting hounds and Fish and Wildlife should no longer be granted the entitled privilege of policing themselves.

Remote training or shock collars can be marketed by many names. They are manual, radio controlled systems that enable you to deliver a shock to a dog’s collar from a hand-held transmitter.

The hand-held transmitters have multiple toggles to set for individual dogs. Hounders usually hold these while wearing thick gloves which makes handling them cumbersome. There is great potential for hounders to deliver mistimed shocks since one transmitter is used for multiple dogs. Of course, when the hounder stares at the transmitter, he is not keeping an eye on the hounds. If the hounder can’t see the dogs, it negates any efficacy or point to the collars. 

A GPS collar does not control hounds, nor is it a training substitute. Electronic collars are unreliable in wooded terrain. According to the manufacturers of these collars, to get the full range out of any system there should be nothing between the transmitter and receiver. Hounders release dogs into the woods to chase bears and coyotes out of their native habitats. The forests and mountains of Vermont, where coyotes and bears prefer to reside, are anything but flat and open.

With regards to “recalling” hounds (dog training lingo for coming), they are transported in ‘dog boxes.’ Once released, they have no point of reference as to their starting location. Their direction and behavior is determined by the animal being chased. Hounders routinely change direction in their trucks while pursuing the hounds, so the hounds have no set location to return to.

A ‘shock’ itself provides no information to a dog other than causing pain or discomfort. Since shock is a punishment, for it to be effective in training, three criteria must be met – consistency, timing, and intensity. For timing, the shock must be administered within, at most, a second or two of the behavior. Since hounders do not see their dogs, this timing is impossible. 

Individual dogs respond to shock differently on any given day. How they respond varies according to the dog’s energy level, emotional state, frustration level, pain threshold, distractions present and environmental conditions. Hounds are mostly out of sight and often not in proximity to each other. They are in a constant state of motion and exhibit multiple behaviors at one time, which varies between dogs. One hounder being able to control multiple dogs on one transmitter is extremely unreliable. 

Predatory aggression and prey drive are the hardest behaviors to control training wise. If anyone has experienced a dog fight, you are aware of how frenzied it can be. Sic’ing a bunch of dogs on a coyote or bear is a form of dog fighting. Hunting hounds are caged, kenneled, or tied on chains 24/7, transported in ‘dog boxes’ in the back of pickups, and then let loose to chase down and attack animals. They are in high state of arousal and are not capable of being trained in this state.

The use of e-collars is contraindicated for animals with aggression. The use of shock increases a dog’s propensity to bite, as well as biting intensity and severity. It can elicit redirected aggression and aggression in dogs with no prior aggressive history. This is one reason why professional animal behavior and veterinary organizations are against using them.

Hounders consider the basic requirement that they be within visual or verbal control of hounds a ‘defacto ban’ and foul play. Of course, to most dog owners and rational people, this would seem a minimal expected requirement. Companion dogs are not allowed to chase wildlife or attack animals and people, so why should hounders get a free pass? It’s challenging enough to control one dog with predatory aggression off-leash, no less a pack of them.

People, dogs, and domestic and farmed animals have been repeatedly attacked and seriously injured by hunting hounds, as have non-target wild animals such as deer.  

Not only was a couple and their dog viciously attacked by hounds in Vermont in 2019, a veterinarian and her dog were chased and attacked in 2021 for over two miles while mountain biking. All four hounds wore remote GPS collars. Every time she’d slow down, the hounds would jump on her dog to attack him again. Her dog was attacked over ten times. She and her dog eventually ran onto a porch of an empty cabin. She yelled for help while trying to prevent the hounds from climbing the porch. About fifteen minutes later, a hounder pulled up in his truck, grabbed the dogs and threw them into the dog boxes in the back of the pickup. He refused to give his name and quickly drove off. There were no consequences for the hounder. The attack was only revealed by VT Fish and Wildlife upon a public records request.

The bottom-line is there are no laws protecting citizens from hunting hound attacks.

H. 323 is a bill that, if passed, will ban coyote and bear hounding. Banning the hounding of raccoons, foxes and bobcats should be added to this bill. The reason is that these animals are considered ‘large game.’ Multiple dogs are used on large game since these animals can cause injury to the hounds while trying to defend themselves and offspring. Fox and coonhounds are the hounds of choice because they are larger, more aggressive, and relentless.

Hounding needs to be banned for public safety. The majority shouldn’t have to suffer so a few can engage in an activity that is inherently cruel to hounds and wildlife and dangerous to Vermonters and companion and farmed animals. The hound “training season” is simply a cover for an extended season.

It is not right that the only recourse for people who are attacked or whose animals are injured and killed by hounds is to file individual lawsuits and litigation. It’s not right that hounders from out of state can ‘train’ their dogs in Vermont and then leave with no repercussions or consequences for their behavior.

Support H. 323 to ban bear and coyote hounding. Call your legislators to request the bill passes through committees and is enacted into law in 2024. If you’ve had personal experiences where you have been impacted or harassed by hounders, or your animals have been attacked, please contact your legislator and write a formal complaint. Legislators have to hear from you.

Author is an animal behavior and training specialist.