Stop The Torture and Killing of Live Domestic Rabbits Used as Hunting Bait
Action Alert from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Linda Sue - posted on Change.org
January 2014

ACTION

Live helpless animals do not deserve to be tortured or killed unnecessarily and barbarically for entertainment or sport when ethical alternatives exist.

Sign an online petition

Petition will go to:

Governor Phil Bryant
Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves
Mayor Kelvin O. Buck
Senator Angela Burks Hill
County Commissioners
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks
USDA
ASPCA
WLBT News Marsha Thompson
Beagles Unlimited
American Kennel Club
The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association
USDA
MS Hunting Dog Association, Pres. David Smith
American Humane Association
PETA
Mercy For Animals
HSUS
Jan Schaefer
Marshall County Humane Society
Grace Rescue for Southern Paws, Inc.
Red Banks Rescue
Byhalia Animal Shelter
No Borders Animal Rescue
The Lucedale SPCA
Doris Day Animal League
Actors and Others for Animals
The Pet Press
In Defense of Animals
The DJ&T Foundation
Mississippi Hunting Dog Association, VP Brad Underwood
The President of the United States  

INFORMATION and TALKING POINTS

We would like thank the Mississippi Legislature and Governor Phil Bryant for passage of S.B. 2504 in 2012 which extends the state’s prohibition on a cruel and inhumane form of staged animal combat called hog-dog fighting. We ask this same respect and compassion be given to the Tame Domestic Rabbits being used as Live Bait for Dog Hunting Training.

We the petitioners would like to file Animal Cruelty Complaints on David Wring of Beagles On Fire for the unnecessary, intentional and barbaric torturing of tame domestic rabbits being used as Live Bait to train his breeding hunting dogs and for selling and recommending tame domestic rabbits to be used as Live hunting training Bait by others when there are ethical alternatives.

Tame domestic rabbits are seen running for their lives banging off of fences to escape packs of hunting dogs until they are succumbed from sheer exhaustion only to be repeatedly attacked until they can no longer fight back. Rabbits have small, fragile bones that can be easily injured,/backs broken and being Prey animals stress causes them to go into shock resulting in death. It is our opinion that the rabbits in these videos are clearly being tortured beyond survival.

IS MR. WRING CLEARLY PULLING A DEAD BLACK RABBIT OUT OF THIS VIDEO (TUGGING IT FROM THE DOGS LOCKED JAWS ) AFTER IT POSSIBLY DIED FROM SHOCK WHEN HELPLESSLY & REPEATEDLY ATTACKED, BITTEN, THEN "DRAGGED BY ITS FACE"? How is this barbaric display of horrific senseless cruelty considered acceptable behavior?

Contact with a domestic rabbit in No Way prepares a hunting dog to catch a speedy wild rabbit. This practice is wanton cruelty, pure and simple and there is no logical or practical reason to subject live domestic rabbits to this unnecessary torture and suffering except for entertainment, ignorance, laziness or profit.

David Wring of Beagles On Fire proudly invites you to click on his video's and watch the "Fun" when packs of 6-10 beagle pups are taught to torture tame domestic rabbits (prey animals) by chasing, forcefully cornering, attacking, biting and piling on top of them causing them extreme distress, harm and fear for their lives. There is no possibility for the rabbits to escape from these wired enclosures, as would be the case “if” they were out in the wild. Watch Sight Chasing Rabbits with Dee and Maggie Pups.

Mr. Wring claims to have been raising domestic rabbits for the last 2 years as Live Bait to "Train" his dogs within his inescapable training pen. He has increased his operation to the point that he can now sell rabbits to the public encouraging others to also torture, abuse, injure or cause the death of tame docile domestic rabbits in hunting training.
http://www.beaglesonfire.com/hunter-the-retrieving-beagl/rabbits-for-sale.html

A domestic animal does NOT exhibit the same hard wired survival instincts that a wild creature does and therefore will not know how to escape from its predator – in this case, packs of hunting dogs. A domestic rabbit’s instincts are watered down due to the genetic manipulation of its gene pool, when you put a live domestic rabbit in the same pen with predators, you have just committed murder. That rabbit has no clue how to defend itself (and it can’t) causing an elevated heart rate, rapid respiration, its adrenaline will go full tilt, and its lactic acid will build rapidly.

A domestic rabbit does not have the natural coat (camouflage) that a wild animal has, and therefore teaching a beagle to hunt a domestic animal most certainly does not encourage its hard wired instincts.

The Beagle is a scent hound with a natural hunting instinct and it is his genetic make-up to hunt. These hard wired instincts carry from generation to generation and therefore teaching a Beagle to hunt and chase domestic rabbits by scent is not necessary or useful because the domesticated rabbit is a descendant of the European Rabbit and does not share the same scent as our wild rabbits.

Ethical Alternatives in Lure coursing are honored and used by Beagles Unlimited and the American Kennel Club that do not involve the torture of sentient, intelligent creatures. The artificial lure is made to look like a live animal where the lure is dragged across the ground at a high rate of speed, with a set number or turns and changes in direction to simulate the movements of a live animal or “game.”

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS--DOG TRAINING--

The use of a Live Rabbits in the training of greyhound racing dogs has been outlawed in most States because such action causes the animal to be tortured and tormented, causing unnecessary pain, suffering and death. It has even been outlawed to kill and use dead rabbits.
Torturing of an animal for the purpose of training hunting dogs would also appear to be needless knowing there are ethical alternatives and therefore making it a crime for any person to come within the scope of the statutes prohibiting cruelty to "animals."

§ 2156 - Animal fighting venture

Prohibition

In this section – (1) the term “animal fighting venture” means any event, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, that involves a fight conducted or to be conducted between at least 2 animals for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment, except that the term “animal fighting venture” shall not be deemed to include any activity the primary purpose of which involves the use of one or more animals in hunting another.

The following section constitutes Mississippi's anti-cruelty and animal fighting provisions, which were recently amended in 2011. The pertinent anti-cruelty law, § 97-41-1, states that any person who intentionally or with criminal negligence overrides, overdrives, overloads, tortures, torments, unjustifiably injures, deprives of necessary sustenance, food, or drink, cruelly beats, or needlessly mutilates any living creature, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 97-41-1. Cruelty to living creatures

Except as otherwise provided in Section 97-41-16 for a dog or cat, if any person shall intentionally or with criminal negligence override, overdrive, overload, torture, torment, unjustifiably injure, deprive of necessary sustenance, food, or drink; or cruelly beat or needlessly mutilate; or cause or procure to be overridden, overdriven, overloaded, tortured, unjustifiably injured, tormented, or deprived of necessary sustenance, food or drink; or to be cruelly beaten or needlessly mutilated or killed, any living creature, every such offender shall, for every offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 97-41-2. Seizure of mistreated animal

(1) All courts in the State of Mississippi may order the seizure of an animal by a law enforcement agency, for its care and protection upon a finding of probable cause to believe said animal is being cruelly treated, neglected or abandoned.

The Animal Welfare Act was signed into law in 1966. It is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport, and by dealers. The event of hunting training is conducted by a Dealer of hunting dogs, considered a sport which involves the use of one or more animals hunting another and the rabbits are being used as Live Bait which directly relates to Animal fighting venture prohibition.

We the petitioners request the USDA and Marshall County, Mississippi to investigate proper licensing regarding Beagles on Fire i.e. Dealers license, License to sell animals online and Business License.

According to David Wring’s Website; his dogs are sold for $600 each and can be bought on the Internet, he also sells domestic rabbits.
Credit Card Purchases: http://www.beaglesonfire.com/credit-card-purchases.html

Code of Federal Regulations Nov 6, 2013, Part 2, Subpart A - Licensing / 2.1 state that dealers selling over $500.00 with more than 4 breeding does requires licensing.

Subpart A (c) (e) states failure of any person to comply with any provision of the Act, or any of the provisions of the regulations or standards in this subchapter, shall constitute grounds for denial of a license; or for its suspension or revocation by the Secretary, as provided in the Act

If the breeder has more than three breeding bitches and is selling the litters wholesale, he must be licensed under the Animal Welfare Act and must be in compliance with standards specified under the Animal Welfare Act.

What happens when a rabbit is picked up by the scruff?
Their skin is made up of three layers, the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous. Just as in our human skin, rabbits' skin is plentifully supplied with nerves, which allow them to feel your touch; temperature; and pain. The subcutaneous layer consists of fat, connective tissue, blood vessels and nerves. This layer helps hold the skin to the muscle tissue. When you lift a rabbit by the scruff the skin is torn loose from the muscle tissue.

Watch BEAGLES ON FIRE.

Please bring positive change to Mississippi and stop this unnecessary barbaric cruelty.

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