Game Panel Decides Against Ban on Dogs in Bear Hunts

The California Fish and Game Commission turned down the department director’s recommendation Friday and will allow continued use of dogs in bear hunts.

Fish and Game Director Boyd Gibbons had called on the policy-setting commission to ban the practice, which has been decried by animal rights groups and environmentalists as cruel.

But the five-member commission, meeting in Crescent City in Northern California, left in place rules that permit the practice. Hunters, gun groups and hound owners lobbied against restrictions on the use of dogs.

Hunters who use hounds place transmitters on the animals’ collars and track them by radio receiver as the dogs run down the prey. Once a bear tires, it often seeks refuge by climbing a tree. When hunters reach the treed bear, they are able to shoot it from close range.

A legislative effort to ban the use of dogs stalled while the Fish and Game Commission reconsidered the matter. Environmentalists have warned that if the legislative effort fails, they will press for a statewide voter initiative to ban bear hunts, similar to one three years ago that prohibited hunting of mountain lions.