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| National Geographic pic |
worse yet. Killing raccoons for the “fun”
of it. That’s what the “press advisory” below boils
down to.
uniqueness includes allowing some barbaric human behavior toward our wildlife, like
today’s “coon chase” that’s underway as I type this post.
supposedly enlightened 2020, would participate in such activity? And what kind
of state Division of Fish and Wildlife would permit it?
emphasis, here’s the press advisory I received yesterday:
National Geographic pic Raccoon “hunts” are a
despicable, thrill-kill form of cruelty encouraged and allowed by New Jersey
Fish and Game Council and the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The abuse is
on a par with bear baiting, cock fighting, dog fighting, and other relics of
man’s barbarity to animals.
As the attached Facebook event page shows, a small group calling itself “Wildlife
Women” emanating from Kentucky is sponsoring a “coon chase” tomorrow,
February 15 , in Hampton, which is part of Bethlehem Township, from 4 in the
afternoon to 1 a.m. What will transpire will go something like this:
The relentless mob of hunters
and their trained dogs ended up chasing this trembling innocent up a tree,
where she fearfully struggled to climb as high as possible, understandably
frightened for her life as she attempted to cling to the ever-narrowing tree
trunk—the dogs wildly baying all the while from down below. Finally, after they
had apparently squeezed all the laughter and “enjoyment” they could out of
watching their terrorized victim caught in the glare of their flashlights,
rifles were raised and gunfire ensued. — Coon hunting deserves no
celebration MountainXpress, July 2007
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| NG pic |
If this is not the prohibited
“needless” torture and killing codified in NJSA 4:22-117, then nothing
is. It also abuses other animals, dogs, in the process of torturing
raccoons:
4:22-17 Cruelty; certain acts,
crime; degrees. a. It shall be unlawful to: (1) Overdrive, overload, drive when
overloaded, overwork, abuse, or needlessly kill a living animal or creature;
(2) Cause or procure, by any direct or indirect means, including but not
limited to through the use of another living animal or creature, any of the
acts described in paragraph (1) of this subsection to be done.
The New Jersey Division of Fish
and Wildlife’s condoning of this abject cruelty and depraved human behavior is
unconscionable. Recently we’ve seen other fish and wildlife agencies in other
states condemn inappropriate behavior on the part of hunters, yet our New
Jersey agency sadly overlooks it. It also allows unsporting and
ecologically damaging baiting banned by neighboring states. “Coon” killing is
yet another example.
National Geographic pic The Hunterdon County
Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police should investigate this
event for violations of New Jersey animal cruelty statutes. The law’s
provisions apply to the “whole brute creation.” By definition, these
animals are needlessly and cruelly killed. They are inarguably tortured and abused
for amusement, no less, and generally discarded as trash. Shotgun shells
damage the skins; they cannot be sold as fur. There is absolutely no wildlife
management purpose to this event and others like it.
The general public is
overwhelmingly disgusted by these killing events which have no place in
civilized society in 2020. Wildlife is a public trust. Given New Jersey’s
non-hunting majority cannot exercise its standing and rights through an agency
and council dominated by hunters, the public can at least insist on the
enforcement of animal cruelty statutes.
For more on killing contests
encouraged by the Fish and Game Council and the Division of Fish and Wildlife,
see recent Humane Society of the United States undercover investigations of
hunting contests in Barnegat, New Jersey and another in New York State, where
dozens of animals were killed and then thrown away. https://www.humanesociety.org/news/undercover-investigation-exposes-gruesome-wildlife-killing-contests
such heinous things can happen here – and demand an end to them.