9 June 2011
PENNSYLVANIA MEMBER ALERT:
PHILADELPHIA AND CHESTER COUNTY ““ Today, Thursday 9 June, at an out-of-the-way resort hotel in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ Game and Fisheries Committee will hold a hearing to discuss ending the prohibition on Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. The hearing will begin at 6.30 pm at Seven Springs Mountain Resort (777 Waterwheel Drive, Seven Springs, PA 15622).
The outcome of this pro-hunting initiative will depend on how strongly the Republicans feel about expanding hunting to Sundays, as they control the House.
Said Lee Hall of Friends of Animals (FoA), “Importantly, Republicans are divided on this issue. Many want to keep Sunday free from gun activities.”
Friends of Animals and Philadelphia Advocates for the Deer oppose hunting and advocate for the peaceful, respectful enjoyment of state parks and the animals inhabiting in them.
Lee Hall, a regular hiker, expressed “thorough disgust at the thought that the quiet of the woods on Sunday as well as Saturday could be assaulted with gunfire,” and observed: “Wearing an orange handkerchief doesn’t feel protective when one’s hiking in a state park. A bullet can travel miles.”
“Moreover,” Hall added, “The experience of being part of nature in the brush, ridges and trails of Pennsylvania is embittered by sights or sounds of people carrying rifles and deer and other animals running for their lives.”
Mary Ann Baron, co-founder of Philadelphia Advocates for the Deer (PAD), stated: “We fail to convince visitors that we exemplify liberty and enlightenment when we treat animals as things to shoot and hang up on walls. At least on Sunday we can feel safe in the parks; we insist that our state respect this.”
Sunday hunting is disallowed in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Lobbying for expanded hunting, and touting its economic benefits, is a group known as the Sunday Hunting Coalition, whose members include (among others) the National Rifle Association, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Cabela’s outdoor gear store, Delta Waterfowl, Mule Deer Foundation, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Safari Club International.
Friends of Animals and Philadelphia Advocates for the Deer have asked members and supporters to take prompt action as follows:Please involve yourself. Animals’ lives are at stake. Set aside some time today to contact your representatives. Encourage them to boost the state’s economy through the promotion of tourism featuring Pennsylvania’s rich history ““ not by attempting to revive a hunting industry in decline.
A Philadelphia-based member of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, Hon. Angel Cruz, can be called at 215.291.5643. The groups ask that members and supporters ask to speak with the office manager, and register their opposition to the proposal.
To phone Governor Tom Corbett in Harrisburg, dial 717.787.2500
Website: www.governor.state.pa.us
To phone Sen. Bob Casey, dial 717.231.7540
Website: www.casey.senate.gov
To phone the Allentown office of Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA), dial 610.434.1444
Website: www.toomey.senate.gov
If time permits you to take further action on this important issue, enter your postal code here (see the space in the right-hand margin) to communicate with your local officials about your views on the prospect of Sunday hunting.
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Friends of Animals, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation founded in 1957, with offices in the U.S. and Canada, advocates for the interests of animals to live in habitat on their own terms. More:www.friendsofanimals.org
Philadelphia Advocates for the Deer (PAD), founded in Spring 2010, is a coalition of local people committed to the long-term ecological health of Philadelphia public parks and respect for indigenous animals. More on Facebook.