Oppose SB 1221 – Ban On Dogs For Hunting Bear And Bobcat

KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!
SB 1221 MAY HAVE A FINAL VOTE BETWEEN NOW AND JULY 6!

Your efforts on SB 1221 are making a difference! Yesterday, June 26, SB 1221 missed passing out of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee by one vote, and it may be set for a reconsideration vote from now until July 6th. This may be the final vote on SB 1221 and it will be a close vote! We need your help to keep the pressure on and make sure SB 1221 dies in this committee.

Over 750 people appeared at the capitol to voice their opposition to SB 1221 yesterday, and thousands of other people like you emailed, called, and sent in written opposition. Keep the pressure on! Continue to voice your strong opposition to SB 1221. Call, write, and/or email – information on contacting your assembly member and the members of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee is available below. And don’t forget to spread the word to fellow firearms owners and sportsmen; share this alert with anyone who can help stop SB 1221! Contact information is shown below.

SB 1221 is co-authored by Senator Ted Lieu, of Torrance, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and is sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. Although SB 1221 does not impact hunters who use dogs for bird hunting or other mammal hunting, it should be of great concern to all hunters. This bill is radical, anti-hunting legislation. There is no science to support SB 1221. And, make no mistake this is the first step in their attempt to ban the use of dogs for any hunting in California. We need to stop this bill now!

The following are important points that you may want to make regarding this bill when your write/and or call:

• SB 1221 sets up a double standard. Government hunters would be allowed to use dogs to hunt bears and bobcats, while sportsmen would be prohibited from using their trained dogs to hunt bears or bobcats!
• Hunting with dogs is not cruel to dogs, bears, or bobcats. Bear hunting with dogs is an effective and time-honored tradition that assists the Department of Fish and Game in controlling the ever-growing bear population in California
• Bear habitat is shrinking while the population is increasing. Conservative estimates show that the bear population in California has more than doubled in the last 25 years even with dogs being used to hunt bears
• The authority to manage wildlife in California is delegated to the California Fish and Game Commission by the legislature. The Commission and the Department of Fish and Game carefully control the take of bears through scientific population management. This bill attempts to bypass the authority of the Fish and Game Commission and move forward without following the mandatory environmental review (CEQA) and public hearings through the Commission
• The take of bobcat has declined over the past 30 years, and there is no hunting pressure on the bobcat population. The bobcat population, like the bear population, is successfully managed by the Department of Fish and Game
• If SB 1221 passes, the hunting success rate will drop and government hunters will need to be hired, at taxpayer expense, to control problem bears
• A ban on hunting bear and bobcat with dogs will result in the significant drop in license dollars available to the Department of Fish and Game to manage the bear population

Please act now! Contact your assembly member and all of the members of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and voice your strong opposition to SB 1221!