That's why Anderson is leading a petition drive aimed at changing North Carolina's dangerous dog law, which presently exempts hunting dogs.
"It doesn't take away any of their rights," Anderson said of hunters. "It's about making people responsible for the actions of their dogs."
Anderson started the online change.org petition in November calling for the hunting dog exemption to be removed from the state statute. Since then, the petition has gained almost 1,700 signatures, she said, with most of those coming from N.C. residents.
"Most of those are people from North Carolina, so people in North Carolina are invested in this," Anderson said. "It's not just hikers (affected). We've had people come forward who live in the mountains and have had dogs come onto private property and kill their livestock and pets."
She said her goal is 3,000 signatures, and she plans to present the petition in person to Gov. Pat McCrory's office by this summer.
State Rep. Roger West, a Republican from Cherokee County who will co-chair a new legislative wildlife committee, said the panel would review the hunting dog exemption. Because the committee is new, he said he's still getting up to speed on the dangerous dog law.
"Right now, I don't know a whole lot about that statute," West said. "But we'll be looking at that issue."
Under North Carolina law, dogs "being used in a lawful hunt" are exempt from rules that otherwise require owners to take steps to prevent their animal from harming a person or another animal.
The hunting dog provision is listed under the same section of the state statute that provides an exemption for police dogs that might harm someone.
The issue came to light after U.S. Forest Service officials declined to pursue the case against bear hunters whose dogs injured Anderson and her two Australian shepherds. Anderson was on a camping trip with her dogs when the harrowing, 45-minute attack happened on Oct. 13, the opening day of bear season, in the Snowbird area of the Nantahala National Forest in Graham County.
Anderson, a 29-year-old visitor from Cleveland, Ohio, suffered bite wounds to her hands and legs as she fought to protect her pets. The dogs were seriously injured but have since recovered.
She said she fought the hounds off with a tent stake and a stick, trying to shield her dogs with her body.
When the hunters — six men — finally arrived, they got the hounds under control and helped Anderson pack up her gear. One of the men carried her pack as they walked three miles back to her car.
But the men did not offer to get medical help and left quickly when Anderson reached her car. She said she was so worried about her dogs that she didn't think to ask the men their names.
Anderson later had to undergo rabies shots, which cost her $600, and she said she spent another $1,200 on veterinary bills for her dogs.
For non-hunting dogs, the state statute defines a dangerous dog as one that kills or injures a person, or one that "killed or inflicted severe injury upon a domestic animal when not on the owner's real property," or "approached a person when not on the owner's property in a vicious or terrorizing manner in an apparent attitude of attack."
Owners of non-hunting dogs that are dangerous are required to keep the dogs confined and are prohibited from allowing such an animal "to go beyond the owner's real property unless the dog is leashed and muzzled or is otherwise securely restrained and muzzled," according to the statute.
A Forest Service official said the agency declined to pursue the case because "no federal laws were broken." Graham County Sheriff Mickey Anderson also declined to investigate, saying any action was up to the Forest Service.
"There's nothing to protect my dogs," Anderson said. "It seems like there is very unequal legislation out there."
She said she's not opposed to hunting.
"I'm not anti-hunting. I have many friends who are hunters. The biggest issue is accountability," she said.
Anderson, an avid hiker and camper, hasn't been back to North Carolina since the October incident, but she said the beauty of Western North Carolina's vast wilderness areas likely will draw her back eventually.
"I want an opportunity to turn a really bad memory into a better memory," she said.
Bear hunting is an old tradition in the mountains around Asheville, and most hunters use hounds. N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission officials called the attack on Anderson's dogs extremely unusual.
Don't you mean torturing bears with dogs is an "old tradition"... if dogs do this to another dog, what do they do to the animals which are being hunted? They don't just use bears to torture and kill. They train these dogs by sending them to rip other animals apart, like foxes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, baby deer... whatever crosses their path is going to be ripped to shreds like this poor coyote
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| After being shot and collapsing from exhaustion and pain, there will be no quick death for this poor thing. |
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| This is the 'time honored tradition' of hunters who use dogs |
(Asheville Citizen-Times - Jan 31, 2015)
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this time honored tradition is as barbaric as dog fighting and should be treated similarly.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's as cruel as fox hunting in England, or executing retired greyhounds.
ReplyDelete"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it's animals are treated" Ghandi I don't think he just meant pets.
Using a pack of dogs to do the hunting for you is cowardly, lazy, and requires no skill at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is public land and not "hunting land". Equal protection under the law applies. If there are "no law" then they need to pass some. Those official's remarks make them look ridiculous.
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