I find this proposal very…

I find this proposal very disturbing. I do not feel that holding wildlife “captive” for the purposes of training hunting dogs to be humane or an acceptable practise in 2023. Who will be monitoring each of these independent facilities to confirm that the captive wildlife will not be harmed? It’s mentioned that the dogs will be kept at a safe distance from the wildlife. That seems a ludicrous statement and there is no supporting evidence to state how this will be achieved.

As with anything so loosely written and with the low likelihood of being able to monitor these facilities, I see plenty of room for rampant abuse. To me this means that captive wildlife, sentient beings who feel pain and fear, will be traumatized, physically harmed and will be denied the means to escape. Under the province of Ontario I thought I understood that it is an offence to cause or permit stress to an animal.

This proposal opens the door and makes it acceptable and much more likely that these unfortunate animals who have absolutely no say in what is happening to them, will be placed in situations causing them extreme stress both physically and mentally, as they try hopelessly to escape a fenced in environment. There is no guarantee that these animals, sentient beings, will not be physically harmed, or torn to shreds, once a pack of hunting dogs is “accidentally” released upon them. There is no onus on the owners of these facilities to ensure that wildlife is not maimed, and killed by trained hunting dogs.

Please do not allow this proposal to proceed. At some basic level those of you involved in advocating for this must know that this opens the door to abuse and inhumane and cruel outcomes. This is 2023, not 1923. This is a step backwards and is extremely disappointing to see.