Ontario is proposing changes…

Ontario is proposing changes to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act to allow the issuance of licences for new “dog train and trial” areas, as well as the transfer of licences that already exist. The language used in the proposal attempts to sound benign, as if the focus is to improve the résumé of dogs. In the proposal, one supposed benefit is to “provide a dedicated space for training where dogs and wildlife are contained and safe.” Safe? Seriously? It most certainly is not safe for wildlife and, I assert, not beneficial to the reputation of the province of Ontario.

In the proposal provided on the Environmental Registry of Ontario, the MNRF claims to have examined the regulatory impacts and the economic consequences of the proposed changes. Other potential impacts seem to have gone unexamined.

One can read about this topic from many sources, including the discussions that led the Harris government to ban the practice and cease the issuance of new licences in 1997. In order not to reiterate what you have likely already read in your own research or received in comments, I will point you to the debate in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba on the Wildlife Amendment Act, in April 2000 which includes multiple points worth considering. The relevant link to Hansard is here:

https://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/hansard/37th_1st/vol_017a/h017a.html

The term “dog trialling” used by Ontario is called, in this discussion in Manitoba, “penned hunting.” They offered a description of what happens when wildlife is enclosed in a fenced-off “trial area” and people and their dogs are allowed to hunt them down. A simple word search will show you that the adjective “disgusting” is used 12 times in this debate to describe the practice. I could not agree more.

One member of the legislative assembly pointed out that penned hunting is in actuality a form of privatization of our natural resources, for the benefit of the few. Another called it industrialization and exploitation of wildlife. Why is the province of Ontario allowing this practice? The basic premise of Fish and Wildlife Conservation is that wildlife should be preserved. Forests and natural resources should be protected and used only when necessary, and with humility at that.

It is interesting to read the words of the Manitoba parliamentarians who were hunters themselves taking umbrage at the comparison of their sport to the unsportsmanlike killing of penned wildlife. They wanted to distinguish what they viewed as their skilled hobby, the tradition of hunting for the purpose of providing sustenance, from the unskilled, unethical and unnecessary murder of wildlife. They pointed out, quite rightly, that the act of penning is an act of taking wildlife hostage and subjecting them to a life of terror followed by a terrifying death. They stated that penned hunting is simply violence as a form of entertainment. Be careful what you stand for, Ontario. You can label this as the trialling of dogs, but the actual training that is taking place in this setting is the training of humans to kill without remorse, to enjoy watching living beings be terrorized and torn apart. This system is training humans to be comfortable as abusers. Then we wonder why vulnerable people in our society are abused. When women are abused, children are abused, members of the LGBTQ community are abused, visible minorities are abused, Muslims are abused and indigenous people are abused, politicians offer “thoughts and prayers.” We don’t want your thoughts and prayers. We want your leadership in positioning Ontario as a province that reveres its wildlife and protects its environment.

Ontario has lost the opportunity to be a leader in the field of thoughtful, fair and compassionate wildlife management, but we still have time to be a follower and get out of this awful business of dog training and trialling (penned hunting). Do not issue more licences. Do not allow the transfer of licences already issued. Then, take one more necessary step: eliminate those licences that already exist and shut down the practice entirely.