HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – After a 6-3 vote, the Department of Wildlife Resources turned down two proposals regarding hound dog hunters to keep their dogs off of private properties while hunting.
One proposed idea was to require the use of GPS collars on the dogs to better track them; the other would make hunters take a reasonable effort to keep their dogs of the property. Spokesperson for Virginia Property Rights Alliance, Chris Patton, said he has had 35 different problems this year on his property with hound hunters, and with the changes denied, it may lead to even larger problems in the future.
“The most reasonable action is for dog hunters to simply be responsible, take control of their animals and keep their hunting dogs on land where they have permission to hunt…You simply can’t use someone else’s property without their permission,” Patton said. “If we don’t regulate hound hunting in Virginia in significant ways, it will ultimately end hound hunting in Virginia completely, because eventually, there will be some sort of cataclysmic event that happens that [will] cause the state to act.”
Patton said the problem may not be solved until it is taken to court; he does not know when changes will be made.
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