Arizona rejects proposal to ban hunters from using dog packs to kill bears, mountain lions, and other wildlife
The measure would have outlawed hound hunting to kill large mammals, a practise which critics say is cruel and endangers non-target wildlife.
Arizona has rejected a proposal that would have banned the use of dog packs to hunt large mammals in the state.
A coalition of conservation groups had petitioned the Arizona Game and Fish Commision in November last year, calling for a ban on the use of dog packs to hunt mountain lions, bears, bobcats, foxes, and other wildlife.
Known as hound hunting, the hunting method is controversial as critics say it undermines fair chase principles, disrupts non-target wildlife, and poses a safety risk to people using public lands.
Despite the concerns, the commission has now denied the petition in a vote held earlier this week.
Conservation groups including the Center for Biological Diversity had hoped the proposal would pass in order to protect wildlife and endangered species.
According to government figures, 748 mountain lions were reported killed by hunters in the state using packs of dogs between 2020 and 2023. This represents a significant percentage of the species entire population, which was estimated to be as low as 1,166 in a study conducted in 2020.
In the same three-year timeframe, hound hunts killed 323 bears in the state too.
A mountain lion.
Conservationists warn that the packs of hounds not only kill and slaughter these large mammals, but the hounds' repeated presence also disrupts the natural behaviors of other wildlife. This includes federally-protected animals like jaguars and ocelots in the Southwest, with multiple recorded incidents of hunting packs chasing and harassing endangered cats in Arizona.
“Arizonans love jaguars and ocelots, and the commission’s refusal to protect these endangered animals shows it’s wildly out of touch,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Commissioners could’ve aligned state rules with ethical hunting standards and the Endangered Species Act but instead they chose to allow this harmful practice to continue.
Despite the setback, McSpadden says the Center will continue to encourage Arizona to modernize its hunting regulations as other states have already done.
It’s not only wildlife and conservation efforts that are impacted by hound hunts either.
The hunting dogs themselves are also at significant risk of harm, according to animal welfare experts. As part of the hunting process, dogs can suffer physical injuries or develop chronic health complications due to exhaustion, dehydration, and selective breeding. Some hunters have been known to purposely starve their hunting dogs to increase the animal's prey drive, and some hunters have abandoned dogs that underperform or become injured.
People, too, are at risk from the packs that can consist of as many as 30 dogs. Because the hunting is allowed to take place on public lands, there are legitimate fears that unsupervised packs of dogs could create hazards for humans and endangered hikers and other public lands users.
Sadly, cruel hunting methods are still legal across states in the US. Take action and join Species Unite in urging the Wyoming State Legislature to ban “wolf whacking” - a hunting technique which uses snowmobiles to run over wolves and coyotes. Sign the petition here.
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