Hound Hunting

[hokieman]

dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-ed_satltrs_03222mar22,0,6606637.story

dailypress.com
Hound hunting
March 22, 2008

The 2008 General Assembly session is over and no bills were passed that alter the way Virginians currently hunt with hounds. However, the $100,000 hound-hunting study authorized and funded by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Commission and being conducted by Virginia Tech is ongoing.

Obviously the study is designed to yield findings and recommendations that will give the game commission and anti-hunting politicians political cover to alter current laws governing hound hunting.

It's time for each of us to join the fight or lose our rights. If you hunt with hounds or beagles and wish to continue doing so, there are four important actions you should take immediately: Call your state senator and delegate and tell them you see no reason to change the regulations currently governing hound-hunting in Virginia; ask your senator and delegate to vote against any legislation that adversely affects hound hunting; join the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance ( www.vahda.org), which is an organization spearheading the effort to maintain the current regulations governing hound-hunting without modification (VHDA currently has more than 2,000 members and there is no fee required to become a member); and register to vote.

It's time for every hound hunter to flex their political muscle. We'll only have ourselves to blame when our Virginia tradition of hound hunting is abolished in the name of political correctness.

Charlie Kruse