By Alana Stevenson, MS

Public safety and the treatment of animals is a bi-partisan or, more importantly, non-partisan issue. Multiple people in Vermont have been attacked by bear hounds. The hounds did not first ask whether these individuals were Republican or Democrat. Companion dogs have been attacked by bear and coyote hounds. Pet dogs are usually considered family members by both conservative and progressive owners. Hounds who run through private property after non-target and target animals do not care if the owners of those properties are Republican, Democrat, or Independent. 

Hounders who trespass on private property while chasing unleashed hounds do not first check whether those properties are owned by Liberals or Conservatives. Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, a bear or coyote chased for hours and many miles by a pack of hounds is not going to avoid your property out of respect for your political affiliation.

Hounding, repeated trespassing by hounders on posted and private property, the safety hazards hounders present, the cruel treatment of hounds, and the unjust cruelties inflicted upon wild animals chased and attacked by hounds are all nonpartisan issues.

Dog owners are expected to control their dogs. Yet, hounders have no expectations placed on them by VT Fish and Wildlife. They release unleashed hounds into the woods to chase wild animals and pursue hounds from their pickup trucks. Not only do hounders not see their hounds, they can be miles away from them. Releasing packs of hounds, off-leash, to chase wild animals unsupervised is dangerous and irresponsible. 

The style of collar hounds wear, regardless of the navigation system hounders use, does not control the direction or behavior of the hounds. Just as the GPS you use when you drive does not control your car, a GPS does not control an off-leash dog. Any “remote” training system used on hounds is irrelevant since hounders can neither see their hounds, nor are they in close proximity to them. Furthermore, it’s impossible to accurately “correct” (shock) multiple hounds simultaneously for the same behavior. This is why the hounding of bears, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, and raccoons must be banned. If the expectation is placed upon hounders that they must control the hounds, the “sport” of hounding can no longer exist. 

Recently, you may have heard about the seizure and killing of Peanut, the squirrel, and Freddie, the raccoon, in New York. The Department of Environmental Conservation invaded a private residence and confiscated and killed Peanut, a harmless family member, along with Fred, because the right paper work wasn’t in place. Meanwhile, the DEC does not care that people are poisoning squirrels, shooting them, or using them for BB practice. Up until this month, November 2024, NY has allowed squirrel “killing contests,” usually hosted by Rod and Game clubs.

In response to the seizure and killing of Peanut and Fred, NY Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz (Republican) drafted legislation called Peanut’s Law: Humane Animal Protection Act, co-sponsored by Assemblyman Matt Simpson (Republican). This bill would would allow for a 72-hour waiting period in which notice and appeals can take place prior to the seizure and euthanization of wild animals by the state, with safeguards in place to protect animal sanctuaries and wildlife rehabilitation facilities. Any “euthanasia” of seized animals would be performed by a licensed veterinarian.

There is no better example of government overreach than how the VT Fish and Wildlife Department and Board operate. VT Fish and Wildlife officials can walk onto private property unannounced and confiscate and kill wild animals, even under the care of licensed wildlife rehabilitators. The department can penalize or punish licensed veterinarians for helping injured wildlife and can prevent members of public from assisting sick or hurt wild animals, even when it is safe or easy to do so.Regarding “euthanasia,” the Department’s standard method for killing confiscated animals and wildlife is Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning. The use of CO is painful, obsolescent, and does not meet American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines.

The VT Fish and Wildlife department is supposed to “manage” wildlife for the benefit of the public. Instead, the department protects and caters to the interests of hounders. The Fish and Wildlife Board is small group of individuals selected by the Governor. Board members don’t need any academic qualifications or credentials. The only prerequisite is that they are hounding, hunting, and trapping enthusiasts. Governor Scott backed John Rodgers for Lieutenant Governor. Rodgers has called hounding a “Native American tradition” and has wanted to establish a hunting season on domestic cats. The Board can override the Department’s biologists and even federal agency recommendations.

The Fish and Wildlife Board refused to accept the Legislative Committee for Administrative Rule’s requests and recommendations to address public safety concerns regarding coyote hounding. The Department, Commissioner, and Board do not want regulations placed on them, but pile all sorts of erroneous restrictions and regulations on the public and licensed wildlife rehabilitators, who receive no money from the department. In other words, the Fish and Wildlife Department and Board oppose regulations unless they can place them on you.

The fact that the public, including wildlife rehabilitators and even veterinarians, are prohibited from helping nearly all wild animals considered “rabies vector species” (RVS), but hounders and trappers can kill and skin these very same animals and pose with them for selfies is testament to the double standards that Fish and Wildlife abides by. Any hunters who question or criticize the board or department are quickly intimated into submission. And so are Vermont legislators.

We need a Peanut’s Law in Vermont, hounding bears to be banned, and the Fish and Wildlife Board to be dismantled.