We have a cheer today for our op-ed about the proposed Connecticut bear hunt which has been picked up and published by newspapers around the state. We have been working tirelessly to get this bill shot-down, including traveling to Hartford, Ct. to testify at a public hearing against the bill.

 

By Priscilla Feral

State lawmakers are gearing up to promote a bear hunt in Connecticut, which would be the first in the state since 1840. The legislation for the hunt is being spearheaded by Environment Committee Co-Chair State Sen. Craig Miner who is seeking approval for a bear hunt in his own backyard – Litchfield County.

Stoked by exaggerated bear sightings, supporters are manipulating the public by marketing fear, so hunters, who represent just one percent of the state’s population, can rally support for what really amounts to nothing more than a trophy hunt to slaughter bears for mounts and rugs. 

But what should really be stopped dead in its tracks is this legislation. And what supporters, including DEEP, which earns revenues through hunting license fees, isn’t eager to tell the public is that what they really should fear is the hunters, not the hunted.

Friends of Animals, through a Freedom of Information request, dug into state data and found that the math for the bear hunt doesn’t add up. What is adding up is the harm to humans from hunters.

Hunters in Connecticut killed 10 people and injured 114 in hunting accidents between 1982-2016. Compare that to the number of people killed by black bears — zero.

 

Read the full piece here.