I strongly object to the…

I strongly object to the Ontario Government proposal to make amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act to allow new licenses for dog train and trial areas, also known as penned dog hunting facilities.

Penned dog hunting facilities are cruel to the wild animals that are subjected to various methods used to train dogs to hunt.
Wildlife should never be taken from their natural environments and held captive by hunters. It’s especially cruel to use rabbits, coyotes, and foxes as pawns for hunters to train dogs and hold competitions.

For the Ministry to condone the trapping of wildlife for this use seems to me to go against the mandate of the ministry which is to protect the environment.

Please see the website below for research done in Britain on the use of dogs for hunting although some of it only pertains to Britain Part 3 outlines the effect of this practice on wildlife quoting other studies from different countries.

The amendments should be withdrawn and in fact the current facilities should be shut down! Allowing a small number of hunters who use dogs to hunt, capture and harass wildlife to override the safety and security of wildlife and the environment is not what the Ministry of the Environment should be condoning.

I think the following applies and could be used to close down these training facilities.

Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 13

Animal fighting prohibitions

16 (1) No person shall encourage, promote, arrange, conduct, assist in, receive a financial or material benefit for or take part in,

(a) the training of an animal to fight with another animal; or

(b) any meeting, competition, exhibition, pastime, display or event at or in the course of which an animal fights another animal.
Same, permitting fights, etc.

(2) No person shall,

(a) permit an animal to be trained to fight with another animal; or

(b) permit any meeting, competition, exhibition, pastime, display or event at or in the course of which an animal fights another animal to take place.
Animal fighting equipment

(3) No person shall own or possess equipment that is used in animal fights or in training animals to fight.
Animal fighting structure

(4) No person shall own or possess a structure that is used in animal fights or in training animals to fight.