BY CHELYEN DAVIS
THE FREE LANCE-STAR
RICHMOND—A bill that would have banned the practice of “fox penning” has been postponed until next year, with instructions to the game department to determine whether its regulations are adequate.
The Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee voted to carry over Sen. David Marsden’s bill, after more than an hour of testimony before an overflow crowd of animal-rights activists and hunting advocates.
In the practice of fox penning, landowners build an enclosure—it can’t be less than 100 acres, but some are much larger. Into that enclosure they put at least one fox, trapped and given to them by professional trappers.
The pen has places for the fox to hide, and the animal is kept fed and watered and treated against rabies and other diseases.
Hunters say it’s a safe way to train hounds, especially young ones, without letting those dogs loose near roads or other areas.
Opponents, including the Humane Society, say it’s a cruel practice that often ends in the fox’s death.
Records with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries show that over the past three years, about 3,600 foxes have been put into the state’s 41 pens; Marsden said one pen reported having more than 900 foxes over those three years.
“They’re not dying of old age,” said Marsden, D–Fairfax.
He said that while pen owners aren’t supposed to pay for foxes, they do pay trappers for their expenses, which is essentially the same thing.
The attorney general’s office backed the bill.
“Currently, fox penning is running afoul of our animal fighting law,” said deputy attorney general Michelle Welch. “There have been abuses reported to our office of the foxes being torn apart by the dogs.”
Other supporters of Marsden’s bill said fox penning is not sporting.
“Fox penning has absolutely nothing to do with traditional hunting, and ethical hunters distance themselves from this activity,” said Robin Starr of the Richmond SPCA, calling it “a brutal and unethical practice that is a stain on the honor of Virginia.”
William Goodman said he owns a fox pen of 210 acres in Louisa County. Marsden visited his pen before filing the bill.
Goodman said he keeps a close eye on the hounds in his pen, and keeps the foxes up to date on their shots.
He seemed conflicted about the bill.
“Yes, fox pens probably do need folks checking on them,” Goodman said. “But to come out and said it’s cruel, it’s not being done correctly, is wrongly stated.”
Opponents of the bill said fox penning had been wrongly portrayed, and that the point is to train dogs, not kill foxes. They said Marsden’s bill—even with amendments that no longer outlawed penning—would lead to the demise of fox penning and be a step toward outlawing hunting in Virginia.
Michele Taylor, who said her family has a 200-acre preserve, said she wouldn’t participate in fox penning if she thought it was cruel. Instead, she said, it’s “good clean family fun.”
“We are not the barbarians we have been made out to be,” Taylor said. “We as pen owners respect the fox. If you ban fox preserves, that’s the first step to end hunting with hounds in Virginia.”
Kirby Burch, of the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance, called the bill “a broad-based attack on Virginians’ right to hunt.” He said fox penning is already heavily regulated.
That was the crux of the questions senators had for DGIF Director Bob Duncan—whether there’s more the DGIF should be doing to regulate fox penning.
“We’re getting very different portrayals of what’s going on in these fox pens,” said Sen. Chap Petersen, D– Fairfax. “One side portrays it basically as a killing field. The other portrays it as a fitness club.”
Duncan said he has visited fox pens.
“It was not a Michael Vick fighting pen by any stretch,” Duncan said. “Can we do a better job? I think we can. And I do think the sportsmen would be wiling to work with the department to try to fine-tune things.”
They’ll have a year to do that, after senators voted to continue the bill to 2013.
“There are good actors and bad actors. Virginia must regulate this practice and this industry,” Marsden said. “Folks who are involved in this industry need to do a better job of regulating themselves.”
Chelyen Davis: 804/343-2245 cdavis@freelancestar.com
– pullquote
“FOX PENNING HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH TRADITIONAL HUNTING, AND ETHICAL HUNTERS DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THIS ACTIVITY.”
ROBIN STARR, RICHMOND SPCA
– refer
