Bill Calls For Organized Hunting Contests That Target Coyotes, Foxes And Raccoons To Be Banned In Maryland
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- A bill was presented in the House on Wednesday that calls for organized hunting contests to be banned in Maryland.
It comes after the Humane Society of the United States conducted an undercover investigation into such contests in Frederick and Waldorf.
The Humane Society said the practice is inhumane.
"There's no ecological benefit, there's no need for these contests to happen," Emily Hovermale, Maryland State Director of the Humane Society of the United States, said. "It's just killing for the sake of killing. Turning it into a game and it's something we shouldn't stand for here in Maryland."
These contests typically award cash or prizes for whoever kills the most, or biggest animal, with coyotes, foxes and raccoons oftentimes being the target.
Delegate Dana Stein, who represents District 11 in Baltimore County, is the sponsor of the bill.
Humane Society Urges Maryland To Ban Predator Hunts That Target Coyotes, Foxes And Raccoons
The contests are not to provide food for anyone, they're not to protect the environment nor are they part of a responsible species management program," Stein said. "Many times, after the contests are over, the bodies of the dead animals are dumped in the trash."
Jeremy Brown, who hunts in these contests, said that's not always the case. He donates the fur of the animals to a local business.
"Because of the fur prices going down, he stopped taking furs because he couldn't buy them anymore, and he couldn't sell them for what he was buying them for," Brown said. "So what I do is I give them to him and I keep him going with his business."
While the bill doesn't prohibit traditional hunting, those in opposition said it will make it harder to protect livestock and farms.
"For me, working three jobs, it is hard to keep up with it," "I mean it is almost impossible every night when you go to sleep, the raccoons chew a while on a different side."
They said every time these hunts are occurring, they notice a decrease in these incidents.
