Justice: Cougar Hunting for Trophy Is Not Sport

I’m not an emotionalist, and I certainly don’t oppose deer hunting, but I’m against cougar hunting on ethical grounds. I see no sport (i.e., a contest of skill or prowess) in chasing the cougar up a tree with dogs, then killing it.

It’s Mr. (Pete) Bontadelli’s persistent failure (as head of the Department of Fish and Game) to get this point, and the (Fish and Game) Commission’s obstinate refusal to consider public opinion that have ushered in the current assault on trophy hunting.

Incidentally, there’s a lot of distance between knowing how many bears there are, and having not the faintest idea of their numbers. The latter position closely corresponds to the Commission’s.

JUSTICE WILLIAM A. NEWSOM, San Francisco