I came upon this proposal in…

I came upon this proposal in my Facebook feed today. I'm not normally someone to become involved in these types of social outcries - especially not without doing my research first. Needless to say, animal welfare is a cause near and dear to my heart - and I was absolutely floored and horrified when I learned that this proposal is very much real.

I understand and appreciate the need to train "sport dogs" - but this barbaric and cruel practice is not the way to do it. In researching this matter, the ethical best practice around training sport dogs for the purposes of hunting is to use scented dummies - why would the ministry not support this? It is unimaginable to me that our government is in support of trapping (and in some cases, purchasing) animals for the purpose of being shredded, mutilated and ultimately sacrificed when there is a perfectly reasonable solution that does not involve any level of animal cruelty.

These prey animals are living beings. They feel emotion such as fear and panic... and they also feel the pain of being eaten alive by a predator animal.

At the outset of my comment, I mentioned that I am not one to normally become involved in social causes, but I quite literally can't believe that this practice continues today and is occurring in my own proverbial backyard. I beg the Ontario government to reconsider the practice of using live animals for this purpose - I urge you to take a more humane approach to the training of hunting dogs by using scenting methods or scented dummy animals to train. Thank you for your consideration.