| VICTORY!!!
FWC moves toward prohibiting fox, coyote enclosures
June 23, 2010
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted Wednesday to move forward with a draft rule prohibiting the operation of fox and coyote enclosures. The decision followed consideration of a suite of options to improve the process governing the enclosures and listening to several hours of comments from the public.
Learn more about this decision ...
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| Welcome to the Cause ...
This website was created for what began as a local, grassroots effort to eliminate the coyote penning that is taking place in our community in Holt, Florida. Our main goal was to stop the coyote and fox penning we endured for a number of years. We were being forced to become eyewitnesses to this cruel and unjustified torture of penned coyotes and foxes by unsupervised hunting dogs. This effort has taken a new direction on its own. As we have learned more information about this inhumane treatment of innocent wildlife, our focus has now been on eliminating this "sport" from taking place anywhere in the state of Florida.
Let us state up front that we are not "anti-Hunting" nor "anti-Gun". We approve most forms of hunting and we certainly agree with the right to bear arms. Our fight is with a "sport" known as fox penning that is cruel and serves no purpose. Wildlife is penned into an area with no chance of escape. Despite what the supporters of this “sport” contend, there is no element of fair chase as this is canned hunting using the dogs and fencing as the weapons.
Learn more about fox pens ...
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Updates
New photographs have been added to the Photos Page - These photos show coyotes and foxes being crated for shipment and killed animals from the Carolina Running Pen in Carolina, AL (just across the FL border).
The Facebook Cause (Stop Wildlife Penning) has reached TRIBE status with over 2,500 members! Thanks to everyone who has joined! If you haven't, please join to show your support!
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| Myths and Facts
Training Not Torture would like to present some Myths and Facts for you to ponder ...
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MYTH: Fox pens help control the coyote population
FACT: “Coyotes cannot be controlled in the wild by the occasional capture of several or even many animals. There is no evidence in the scientific literature that would support such claims and where coyote control has been implemented, it is generally implemented as a long-term program.” – University of Florida, Wildlife and Ecology Conservation
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MYTH: Removing coyotes benefits native wildlife populations
FACT: “Coyotes coexist with deer, quail, and other game and nongame species throughout North America. There is no evidence that coyotes have detrimental effects on the majority of Florida wildlife, with perhaps the exception of localized effects on sea turtle nesting in some areas. However, even this relationship is being questioned because coyotes may kill raccoons, which are the major predator of sea turtle nests in Florida. Coyotes have actually been found to contribute to waterfowl nesting success and may also benefit other species of ground-nesting birds such as quail and turkeys by controlling smaller predators and rodents that are more abundant and actively search out nests to prey upon eggs.” – University of Florida, Wildlife and Ecology Conservation
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MYTH: Coyotes kill people and are a danger on society
FACT: There has only been one (1) fatal coyote attack ever recorded in the United States. Coyotes are no more of a danger on society than domestic dogs. In fact, domestic dogs killed 33 people in the US in 2007.
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MYTH: The Holt Fox Pen was the “bad apple” and all other pens were operating in accordance with FWC
FACT: Every permitted pen (six as of December 2009) had at least one violation, with most of them having multiple violations. When amnesty was provided to Florida pens in February 2010, seventeen (17) pens came forward, including five of the original six. Therefore, twelve pens were running, without permit, prior to this time. Numerous other pens still exist and have not applied for the temporary permit.
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