Guest guest Posted February 29, 2000 Report Share Posted February 29, 2000 Activists question the Ontario laws that let it happen By Brian McAndrew Toronto Star Environment Reporter December 2 1999 Hunters can stalk and kill exotic animals like Arctic muskox and African antelopes - some of them on international endangered species lists - at a fenced compound in central Ontario. And it's all completely legal. Animal welfare activists are demanding the province outlaw the hunt. A prominent hunters' association agrees. Woods and Water Hunting Ranch offers the big game kill on a 20-hectare wooded lot on its property about 50 kilometres east of Peterborough. Ranch owner Robert Goudreault says an exotic beast shot by a skilled hunter inside his compound experiences a more humane death than farm animals killed in a slaughterhouse. " They take truckloads of pigs to the slaughterhouse, they crowd them into a noisy enclosure and they start killing them off. The blood is running all over the floor. " " In any type of hunting, in the wild or in my enclosure, the animal is taken fairly, peacefully and quietly and in a humane fashion,' " he said. At Goudreault's ranch, just south of Highway 7 midway between Havelock and Marmora, hunters can choose from a long list of exotic animals including bighorn sheep for $18,000, Arctic muskox for $8,000 and various types of antelopes for prices ranging between $1,000 and $4,000. Among the endangered species are the bighorn sheep, an addax ($2,500 to $3,000) and an oryx ($1,000 to $1,200), two types of African antelopes with spiralled horns. Hunters at the ranch most often go after wild boar, which have been commonly hunted in at least a half dozen privately owned compounds around the province for decades. But no other compound offers the larger range of exotic species. This week, Goudreault booked his biggest hunt yet for muskox, addax, oryx and Formosan Sika deer, native to Taiwan. The hunt will never happen. An investigator with an international animal welfare group posed as a American big game hunter in telephone conversations with Goudreault to arrange the adventure. Rob Sinclair of the International Federation for Animal Welfare received an invoice yesterday by fax confirming the hunt in the fictitious name of John Miller at a cost of $19,462.25, including taxes and taxidermy. Sinclair defended the ruse: " To find out what he's doing, you have to pose as a hunter. This is not entrapment. " The Woods and Water operation has raised serious concerns about Ontario laws, which allow this type of hunting. The province's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act prohibits hunting native Ontario animals in compounds but says nothing about exotic species native to places like Africa or India that can be obtained as surplus zoo stock or from breeders in North America. Conservation groups say the hunt is morally wrong. Hunters fear the spread of foreign diseases to native animals. Both want the province to ban the hunting of exotic animals. " The idea that an animal would be shot as it huddles against a fence struggling to escape is nothing short of depraved, " charged Rick Smith, director of the International Federation in Canada. Smith said the federation would pressure the province to change the regulations. Manitoba, one of six provinces permitting compound hunting, plans to ban the practice. Rick Morgan, executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, said, " We're concerned about any exotics. We believe they have the potential to be devastating to our native species. " " I would like to think something like this would prompt the government to change the regulations, " Morgan added. Toronto Zoo executive director Toby Styles worries the 2.2 metre electrified wire fence around the compound - about half as big as Ontario Place - is neither strong enough nor high enough. The zoo installed a solid steel " butting rail " around its muskox paddock to prevent the powerful animals from bursting through the fence, he said, adding antelopes and gazelles can leap at least a metre higher than the ranch enclosure. " No hunter or real sportsman would take part in this kind of thing. These people just want to kill something, " Styles said. " Fifty acres (20 hectares) isn't that big. Maybe if you were hunting a chipmunk with a fork then this compound might be big enough. " Goudreault vigorously defended hunting in the compound. " These animals are all bred all over North America. They are available. They are around. There's a lot more breeding pairs of these animals in North America than there are in Africa, " he said. http://www.thestar.com/back_issues/ED19991202/news/991202NEW01c_CI-HUNT2.html -- _____________ Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com powered by OutBlaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 29, 2000 Report Share Posted February 29, 2000 I know where I won't be spending my next vacation. - " anji b " <vegan < > Tuesday, February 29, 2000 3:37 PM Ranch offers exotic animals ready to kill > " anji b " <vegan > > Activists question the Ontario laws that let it happen > By Brian McAndrew > Toronto Star Environment Reporter > December 2 1999 > > Hunters can stalk and kill exotic animals like Arctic muskox and African antelopes - some of them on international endangered species lists - at a fenced compound in central Ontario. > > And it's all completely legal. > > Animal welfare activists are demanding the province outlaw the hunt. A prominent hunters' association agrees. > > Woods and Water Hunting Ranch offers the big game kill on a 20-hectare wooded lot on its property about 50 kilometres east of Peterborough. > > Ranch owner Robert Goudreault says an exotic beast shot by a skilled hunter inside his compound experiences a more humane death than farm animals killed in a slaughterhouse. > > " They take truckloads of pigs to the slaughterhouse, they crowd them into a noisy enclosure and they start killing them off. The blood is running all over the floor. " > > " In any type of hunting, in the wild or in my enclosure, the animal is taken fairly, peacefully and quietly and in a humane fashion,' " he said. > > At Goudreault's ranch, just south of Highway 7 midway between Havelock and Marmora, hunters can choose from a long list of exotic animals including bighorn sheep for $18,000, Arctic muskox for $8,000 and various types of antelopes for prices ranging between $1,000 and $4,000. > > Among the endangered species are the bighorn sheep, an addax ($2,500 to $3,000) and an oryx ($1,000 to $1,200), two types of African antelopes with spiralled horns. > > Hunters at the ranch most often go after wild boar, which have been commonly hunted in at least a half dozen privately owned compounds around the province for decades. But no other compound offers the larger range of exotic species. > > This week, Goudreault booked his biggest hunt yet for muskox, addax, oryx and Formosan Sika deer, native to Taiwan. The hunt will never happen. An investigator with an international animal welfare group posed as a American big game hunter in telephone conversations with Goudreault to arrange the adventure. > > Rob Sinclair of the International Federation for Animal Welfare received an invoice yesterday by fax confirming the hunt in the fictitious name of John Miller at a cost of $19,462.25, including taxes and taxidermy. Sinclair defended the ruse: " To find out what he's doing, you have to pose as a hunter. This is not entrapment. " > > The Woods and Water operation has raised serious concerns about Ontario laws, which allow this type of hunting. The province's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act prohibits hunting native Ontario animals in compounds but says nothing about exotic species native to places like Africa or India that can be obtained as surplus zoo stock or from breeders in North America. > > Conservation groups say the hunt is morally wrong. Hunters fear the spread of foreign diseases to native animals. Both want the province to ban the hunting of exotic animals. > > " The idea that an animal would be shot as it huddles against a fence struggling to escape is nothing short of depraved, " charged Rick Smith, director of the International Federation in Canada. > > Smith said the federation would pressure the province to change the regulations. Manitoba, one of six provinces permitting compound hunting, plans to ban the practice. > > Rick Morgan, executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, said, " We're concerned about any exotics. We believe they have the potential to be devastating to our native species. " > > " I would like to think something like this would prompt the government to change the regulations, " Morgan added. > > Toronto Zoo executive director Toby Styles worries the 2.2 metre electrified wire fence around the compound - about half as big as Ontario Place - is neither strong enough nor high enough. > > The zoo installed a solid steel " butting rail " around its muskox paddock to prevent the powerful animals from bursting through the fence, he said, adding antelopes and gazelles can leap at least a metre higher than the ranch enclosure. > > " No hunter or real sportsman would take part in this kind of thing. These people just want to kill something, " Styles said. " Fifty acres (20 hectares) isn't that big. Maybe if you were hunting a chipmunk with a fork then this compound might be big enough. " > > Goudreault vigorously defended hunting in the compound. " These animals are all bred all over North America. They are available. They are around. There's a lot more breeding pairs of these animals in North America than there are in Africa, " he said. > > > http://www.thestar.com/back_issues/ED19991202/news/991202NEW01c_CI-HUNT2.htm l > -- > > > _____________ > Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com > > > powered by OutBlaze > > ------ > Luck o' the Irish! Get your St. Paddy's day party supplies at > GreatEntertaining.com today. Green salami, brew kits, shamrock > confetti, gold coins, & more. Erin Go Bragh! > http://click./1/2042/2/_/651892/_/951856731/ > ------ > > > Post message: > Subscribe: - > Un: - > List owner: -owner > > Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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