Capitol Journal: Let the dogs loose on uncontrolled bears
SACRAMENTO — Admittedly I’m biased about bears. I don’t think they’re hunted enough in California. I say hunt them down with dogs. Hunt them with drones.
Maybe roll in the tanks.
I’ve awakened to this conclusion while watching brazen black bears grow out of control in this state.
They should be properly managed just like much of our wildlife: by hunting.
But they should be hunted humanely — with hounds.
That’s why Gov. Jerry Brown should veto a fuzzy-headed bill, SB 1221 by Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), to outlaw the use of dogs in hunting bears and bobcats.
I’m ambivalent about bobcats. They’re not terrorizing people and trashing homes as bears are.
Here are a couple of other outdoorsy suggestions for the governor. He should:
•Sign a bill, AB 1527 by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), to prohibit people from openly carrying rifles and shotguns in malls, coffee shops and similar public places.
If gun worshipers won’t use common sense voluntarily, the rest of us should force them to.
-- George Skelton, Los Angeles Times