Michigan Mourning Doves in Danger
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

William McMullin Campaign Volunteer Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting Ban
March 2013

[Ed. Note: On 3 Jun 2007, William McMullin wrote to all-creatures.org: "We won on this issue. The doves are now safe!"]

Mourning doves are Michigan’s official bird of peace and enjoyed as backyard birds. They are an important part of our heritage, and until recently, they were protected in Michigan by a shooting ban for 100 years.

In 2004, the state legislature effectively ignored the will of the people and established the state’s first mourning dove shooting season, allowing the needless killing of the small birds.

Shortly thereafter, the Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting ban was formed to empower the people to make a difference. Made up of concerned citizens and local and national conservation and humane organizations, the Committee’s purpose is simply to stop the needless shooting of mourning doves and restore Michigan’s 100-year dove-shooting ban.

Mourning doves are traditional backyard songbirds in Michigan – not game birds – and shooting them for target practice or any other purpose is unnecessary and wrong. The Committee engaged in a comprehensive grassroots citizen effort to gather the 159,000 petition signatures required by Michigan law to stop the mourning dove shoot and place the referendum on the November 2006 ballot.

The project has touched thousands of individuals who have become actively involved to make a positive change. In fact, at the petition drive’s conclusion last March, the Committee had gathered more than 275,000 signatures from Michigan voters – fully 73 percent more signatures than the 159,000 required by law, indicating Michigan voters overwhelmingly support of restoring the dove shooting ban.

On June 2, the Board of State Canvassers certified the Committee’s petition signatures without a single challenge, stopping the dove shoot until the November 2006 election, when Michigan voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote to stop the mourning dove shoot for good in our state.

The Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting Ban needs your endorsement of our campaign to restore Michigan’s 100 year dove shooting ban! I hope you will consider adding your name to the already growing list of more than 200 organizations, businesses, and legislators that believe – as we do – that shooting doves is wrong for Michigan, and must be stopped.

Attached you’ll find a concise fact sheet and newspaper editorial excerpts summarizing the Committee’s position against the shooting of mourning doves and supporting restoration of the dove shooting ban. Additional facts can be found here http://savethedoves.org/facts.html  I hope you’ll find it informative and persuasive. Please do not hesitate to email or call the Committee with any questions you may have.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

See: Opposing the Shooting of Mourning Doves in Michigan
See: Mourning Doves: Bonded Pairs and Family Life 


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