I would like to see some statistics that communities live in fear of their lives and livelihood.  It’s easy to put out articles that scare people without putting out real stats.  Assemblywoman Heather Hadwick’s proposed bill has not yet gone to committee, and they admit there are no fact sheets for the proposal (AB1038, see more here)

The California voters and rehabilitators worked hard to STOP the use of dogs to hunt bears, and I think if a poll were taken today, California voters would still oppose the practice of bear hounding.

Assemblywoman Heather Hadwick is addressing a problem that doesn’t exist.  There is NO record of bear/human conflict in the state of California.  Do you think ONE conflict with a bear in 2024 – in ALL of history – is a reason to start using dogs to hunt & kill bears?  

I spent many hours in meetings in Sacramento, wrote letters, and made phone calls to STOP Hounding, and it hurts my heart that Assemblywoman Hadwick wants to start up this barbaric and cruel killing again!

You really don’t want to learn ‘how’ some men train dogs to hunt bears.  It is HORRIFIC/BRUTAL (on the bear they use to train)!  

Here is what we fought for ‘end’ hunting by hounds:

  • When a mother bear has babies out of the den and hears dogs coming, she sends her babies UP a tree.  Sometimes, she will climb with them, but most of the time, she sits at the bottom of the tree.  As the dogs come close, she will run, being chased by vicious, barking dogs, miles away from her babies.  Finally, worn out, she will climb a tree to be safe, with the dogs barking and jumping up at her.  She will go as high as she can.  THEN – after a while, a man – or men – come with a gun – or guns (I don’t call them ‘hunters’).  The law says they are not supposed to kill a ‘nursing’ mother (sow), but when the bear is that high up, they really can’t see or tell.  So, they shoot the bear and say “I’m sorry” later.  If that does not kill it, or as it falls, hitting branches on the way down doesn’t kill it, then the dogs have the ‘fun’ to finish killing it.  Even if it is dead, the dogs are allowed to ‘train’ – and according to the trainer – more training takes place as they are told to ‘attack’ the body, biting and tearing at it!

So, one bear is dead.  So what!  What happens to the cubs, many miles away with no mom to feed them and teach them what they need to learn?  Baby cubs stay with mom for at least 18 months, probably more, to learn from mom.  The cub(s), getting hungry, finally make their way down the tree and face the danger of being killed by other wildlife.  OR, if they are fortunate, they get picked up and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center.  But mom is always the best to teach them what they need to learn.  

150 – 200 people are killed by domestic dogs EVERY year across the USA.  There are statistics to prove this.  So, ONE bear killed someone in 2024, but EVERY year, 150 – 200 people are killed by dogs.  

YOU figure it out.  Cars, dogs, cancer, airplane accidents all kill people.  EVERY DAY!  But NOT BEARS.  

Please, do NOT bring back dogs to use for hunting bears.  It is cruel and barbaric.  Drop the word ‘harvesting’ and just tell it like it is.  KILLING for no reason!  When you hear the word ‘harvesting’, you think of picking apples, corn, or other food.  NOT killing wild animals!

I was always told to have a solution when you talk about a problem.  So, what can we do?  Control bear access to human food.  When a bear eats human garbage and gains more weight than they would normally eat in the wild, they have more cubs!  I have seen pictures of four to five cubs in the wild.  Sows ‘usually’ have only ONE cub.  And, if they do not put on good weight, they naturally abort the embryo for that year.  

So, let’s teach communities to control their human garbage, and then we can control the bear populations.  

If bears don’t get food at that house, they leave it alone.  So, LOCK your car windows and doors and homes, keep all garbage secured, and bears will not be a problem.  All they are hunting for is food, NOT People!

See the proposed bill’s website at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1038

Cheryl Millham, Founder Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Inc.