The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is set to consider a ban on using dog packs to hunt wildlife in the state.
Dog packs often outfitted with GPS collars are used to find and trap big game like mountain lions up trees — allowing the hunter to drive or walk directly to the location and shoot the animal.
Russ McSpadden is the southwest conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups petitioning to end the practice.
“In most cases, hound hunters allow their dog packs to run far beyond their direct control, with the hunter using GPS collars connected to a network of satellites to follow their dogs remotely with the aid of a smartphone or other handheld smart device to pursue and ‘take’ wildlife,” the February petition reads. “Such practices are inconsistent with the integrity of fair chase hunting, and with the acknowledged purpose of regulations limiting the use of electronic devices to locate wildlife for the purpose of taking or aiding in the ‘take’ of wildlife.”
McSpadden says dogs often end up chasing the wrong animals, including endangered species like jaguars and ocelots.
“We’re asking Arizona Game and Fish to consider the facts and the science and to prohibit hound hunting in Arizona, for a lot of reasons, but key one is to protect threatened and endangered species,” he said. We have undeniable evidence that hound packs have impacted and harassed at least five of the last 8 jaguars documented in this region and in many cases these jaguars disappear from their habitats entirely after being harassed.”
The commission will consider the ban during a public meeting in Phoenix on Friday.
