This is an awful proposal…

This is an awful proposal that seems to be a miserable tweak by this government to accommodate and foster more weapons activity and brutality with its reversal of a province-wide ban on new cruel and vile “train and trial areas,” where so-called "hunters" participate in the bloodsport of dog hunting of penned wild species.

Using trapped animals as targets to allow a form of bloodletting is cowardly abberant behaviour and is intolerable in civilised society. Instead of cultivating a reverence for life, this activity encourages a complete disregard leading to a lowering of standards of care for all species, including our own.

Recognizing this, Ontario passed a law in 1997 to phase out new penned hunting facilities for good reason. Penned hunting is incredibly cruel to the coyotes, foxes, and rabbits who are used as live bait and are chased and killed by packs of dogs. The dogs forced to participate can also suffer from injuries and death.

In addition to extreme and mindless animal cruelty, penned hunting is a public health risk. The trade and transportation of wildlife is a major contributor to the spread of disease and parasites, including zoonotic diseases that can infect wildlife, domestic animals, and humans.

Research on Canadians' attitudes is clear: more than four out of five are against hunting animals for sport. No other Canadian province allows penned dog hunting, and the cruel practice is unlawful in most of the United States.
 
I count on our society to do the right thing for animals and public health and don’t undo all of the progress made to phase out penned hunting facilities. Our government should instead focus on strengthening the existing legislation, and shut  down the 24 remaining train and trial areas in the province.

I look forward to this government's prompt action not to allow this heinous and base activity that allows a perverted disregard for the lives of sentient beings. I worry that participation in this form of brutality by cowardly hunters will also lead to even more abuse of vulnerable human beings.