Hunters’ ‘right-to-retrieve’ law stirs emotions
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Associated Press
Published: October 23, 2008
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Proposals to smooth relations between landowners and hunters who use dogs are headed to the board of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The board is not expected to act Thursday on the proposals, but the Richmond meeting is likely to attract a crowd nonetheless.
The most contentious portion of the ``Hunting with Hounds’‘ report involves the state’s ``right-to-retrieve’‘ law, which is viewed as the most absolute in the nation.
The law allows hunters to retrieve their dogs even on posted land. That has annoyed some property owners, including one man who attempted to bill the state.
Hound hunters say they need immediate access to land when their dogs are running to ensure the animals’ safety.
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Posted by ( Imprimis ) on October 23, 2008 at 9:44 am
I hunt every year, but I recognize the “right to retrieve” law for what it is: as simply a way to allow “hound hunters” to go where they want and do what they want, with no regard for anyone’s property rights. “Animals’ safety” is nothing but a cynical smoke screen; I’ve seen the way a lot of these guys treat their dogs, and “safety” is the least of their concerns.
People buy a house out in the country on a 1/2 acre plot, put up a dog lot, buy 4-wheel drive 4-wheelers for the kids, and proceed to abuse everyone else’s land but theirs under the guise of these “access” laws.
I think this will eventually die under its own weight. MeadWestvaco is selling hundreds of thousands of acres in central Virginia to developers. The wide-open pine plantations and old fields and farmsteads that have been fallow for 50 years are going the way of the dodo as people put up houses and bedroom communities on every available acre of land.
“Hound Hunters” may as well face reality and start doing some real hunting, where you actually have to be smarter than the deer.
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