I live in a rural area, with…

I live in a rural area, with many wolves, coyotes, foxes, and other wildlife. I have dogs, and I walk them in the woods, careful of wildlife encounters.

I have neighbours who hunt for food. They are responsible, and seek clean and quick kills. While I do not do this myself, I am comfortable with this approach, and will eat the results.

I am appalled by the kind of hunting that is represented by these proposed licenses and license extensions. The old style fox hunt embraced by the British aristocracy might as well be the model for this. Setting dogs to do the hunting, and possibly the killing of the prey, is cruel and unnecessary. It should be noted that even the old fox hunters had ways of training their hounds that didn't involve abusing captive wildlife.

This kind of practise should be banned, and all such licences should be eliminated as soon as possible. Holding captive wildlife should only be permitted for rescue and restoration purposes. The legal principle that wildlife is not subject to ownership should be enforced.