VIEW LARGER Mountain lions can be cornered by hounds in crags and at the edge of rocky cliffs. Tomorrow morning, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission will hear conservation groups like the Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club and others present their petition that aims to prohibit hound hunting in Arizona.
Petitioners like the Center for Biological Diversity assert that hound hunting poses a clear and documented threat to endangered species.
Russ McSpadden with the Center said the science and law are clear.
“The Commission has the authority and it really has the responsibility to protect endangered species from hounding,” McSpadden said. “We make a fact-based and scientifically supported argument that hounding has repeatedly resulted in jaguars and ocelots being chased, treed and permanently displaced from their habitat, that the practice is not just unethical, it’s illegal under state and federal law and it can create real harm to these iconic animals just as they’re returning to our state.”
The Center first submitted an initial petition in November, citing concerns for public safety and ethical hunting practices.
The contentious topic even inspired a bill co-sponsored by R-Rep. Lupe Diaz, that would’ve enshrined the practice in Arizona Law.
Despite failing in the Arizona Legislature, Game and Fish Commissioners expressed their support for the bill, like Commissioner James Goughnour, who testified in support of the bill as well as the Game and Fish Department.
“Fortunately the bill was voted down and it’s dead, so we do have the opportunity to present these petitions, but that was a close call and a strange series of events,” McSpadden said. “I was surprised and shocked to see the Commission support this bill.”
The meeting will be livestreamed on the commission’s website.
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