A recent Los Angeles Times blog sheds some light on what is behind the attack on California hunters… retribution. Entitled, “Controversial cougar kill spawns proposed ban on hunting with dogs,” the story describes some of the motivation behind Senate Bill 1221, which would ban using hounds to hunt black bears and bobcats.
Times reporter Patrick McGreevy wrote on March 26th, “Unable to get a Fish and Game official to resign for killing a mountain lion outside the state, two lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation that would prohibit the use of dogs to hunt bear and bobcat in California.”
The Fish and Game official is Daniel Richards, president of the California Fish and Game Commission, who went on a mountain lion hunt in Idaho, where he successfully killed a cougar. Outraged anti-hunting groups, led by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), persuaded 40 legislators to call for Richards to resign over the hunt, which was completely legal in Idaho as it is in several other states. Hunting groups, however, rallied to his rescue, pouring calls, emails and letters in to the legislature, which finally abandoned its attempt to remove the commissioner in March.