Training and Trialing using…

Training and Trialing using Captive Coyotes
This concerns the reported plan of the Ontario government to increase the number of licences for “training and trialing” enclosures where dogs learn to hunt coyotes.
1. The clearest and most obvious reason for NOT doing this is that the activity involves animal cruelty, and must surely go against animal welfare laws of the province.
2. I have read the description of one practitioner who owns such an operation, describing brush piles and underground tanks that the coyotes can escape to. This raises two questions: how many coyotes don’t make it to shelter and are killed by dogs? Of the coyotes that make it to a refuge, how long before they undergo this life-threatening terror again?
It is cruel to chase and kill and animal that cannot escape, and it is likewise cruel to subject an animal to life-threatening terror over and over again. This is considered torture.
3. The government of Mike Harris brought in legislation around 1997 that was aimed at phasing out this practice. The intent of the legislation was clear: the government would not close down existing licenced locations, but would issue no new licences and would not allow licences to be transferred. This was a clear signal to people engaged in this activity that the practice must cease, although they were given ample time to wind up their businesses. They have now had 25 years to do so, and anyone who still owns a “training and trialing” location must be nearing retirement age, unless licences have changed hands covertly.
4. There has been considerable progress in the academic field of animal behaviour over the last quarter century and it is now accepted mainstream understanding that all animals have the same range of emotions as humans. Indeed, anyone who was paying attention in their high school science classes would realize that the theory of evolution points overwhelmingly to this being the case. Humans are animals and do not have any “new” traits, just more of some things, such as abstract reasoning. More but not different. Thus is it even more imperative now than when the legislation was first brought in that this cruel practice of terrorizing living animals must stop.
5. I am not asking the present government to go beyond the provisions of the original legislation. I merely ask that the process be left to reach its intended conclusion. There will be fewer and fewer licenced "training and trialing” areas until at last there are none.
6. Regarding the question of sport: some people hunt for food and eat what they kill. Some people hunt for the thrill. People looking for a thrill have many options these days. The world is huge and complex and offers a wide array of opportunities to get the adrenaline flowing. Take up sky-diving. Ride a rollercoaster. If only killing will give you a thrill, see a psychiatrist.
7. As an addendum, a word about the dogs involved. They are not born killers in the way that they are used in this activity. This is evident from the fact that they have to be trained. In the process of evolution, humans and dogs both acquired a wide range of interests and abilities. Both are predators and have a way of compartmentalizing that allows them to kill and thus to eat and survive and have progeny. But this is only one trait. Both species are social, love to play, make friends, and engage in a variety of pursuits. By causing them to overdevelop just one trait, the dogs involved are not given the chance to fully develop, and this is a form of neglect. This is a lesser evil than the treatment of the coyotes, but it is worth mentioning.
8. Regarding the question of “driving the activity underground”: that is NOT a reason to legitimise an unacceptable activity. We have laws against many things that continue underground. The laws mean that the people are stopped when found doing such things, and face consequences. As an example, a friend of mine had a “rescue” mastiff. This dog had been trained by illegal bear hunters, i.e. poachers, looking for gall bladders for the black market. He was a grey velvet neapolitan mastiff with big droopy sad-looking eyes and a big jagged scar over his shoulder blades. I saw him nearly every day in the dog park; he always came over to see if perhaps I had brought a treat. He made very good use of those droopy eyes, indicating that he was on the verge of starvation. His chubby body told me otherwise! He was a sweetheart and would graciously accept petting if there were no treats. My friend had the TV on one evening, with the dog snoring next to his chair. The program changed and suddenly there were bears on the screen, roaring as bears do. In an instant the dog was on his feet, every hair standing on end, growling at the TV. My friend hastily changed the channel and calmed the dog. The bear-hunters went to jail, but the dog remembered his training. Fortunately in a place where he would never again see a bear.