In November, Mainers will have the opportunity to vote against the cruel practices of bear baiting, trapping and hounding.
Bear trapping is so cruel that Maine is the very last state in the country to still allow this practice. A bear’s instinct is to break free from foot snare traps, which can lead to extensive injuries to the animals. Trappers have even reported bears chewing off their own paws to free themselves. Since these traps must be checked only once per day, the bear could be suffering for hours in excruciating pain.
Mother bears are particularly vulnerable to baiting. When they are killed, they leave behind orphaned cubs that are frequently unable to survive on their own.
Bear hounding uses high-tech, unsporting equipment. There is nothing natural or traditional about packs of dogs outfitted with GPS devices forced to run down bears. Dogs trap bears in trees, allowing houndsmen to follow a GPS signal with a handheld computer to find the frightened and exhausted bear, and shoot them off tree limbs at point-blank range. Dogs can also be terribly wounded in the process.
In baiting, after gaining their trust by luring them day after day to barrels full of doughnuts, bears are then shot at close range for an easy trophy kill.
Please vote to end these cruel practices.
Grace Trifaro, Wells
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