Animal rights groups seek review of Ontario’s new hunting dog law

Two animal rights organizations have requested a review of a new Ontario law that allows dogs to track down captive coyotes, foxes and rabbits in massive fenced-in pens.

Two animal rights organizations have requested a review of a new Ontario law that expands a licensing regime that allows dogs to track down captive coyotes, foxes and rabbits in massive fenced-in pens.

Last year, the province passed legislation that would allow the expansion of licences for so-called “train and trial” areas where hunters can bring their dogs to search for, and chase down, wild animals. The dog sport has seen its numbers dwindle since past Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris’s government made new licences illegal and allowed others to phase out.

Animal Justice and Coyote Watch Canada filed the review request last week under the province’s Environmental Bill of Rights, asking Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Graydon Smith to both stop the train and trial area expansion plans as well as phase out existing ones.

“The more that we learn about these penned dog-hunt areas, the more we’re concerned about the risks to wildlife and the risks to public health as well,” Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, said in an interview.

The training component sees hunting dogs let loose in these areas, which are often hundreds of hectares in size, but fenced in around the perimeter. The dogs learn to hunt animals such as coyotes, which are caught in the wild and re-homed to these areas.

The trialing portion involves competitions with judges who score the dogs on their hunting skills. Points are awarded and champions crowned.

The law says wildlife is not to be hurt during these practice hunts, but the reality is different, two former conservation officers told The Canadian Press last year.

The former officers, Rick Maw and Wayne Lintack, spoke out about the province’s plan to expand the dog sport, saying it was cruel towards wildlife, particularly coyotes.