Vicki
Administrator
DNR objects to cold-weather limit in tethering ordinance
By Rusty Marks
Staff writer
September 9, 2009
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Officials for the state Division of Natural Resources have weighed in on Kanawha County's recently passed dog-tethering ordinance.
Last month, members of the Kanawha County Commission approved a new ordinance that requires dog owners to keep their dogs on tethers at least 10 feet long or in pens appropriate to the size and breed of dog when the animals are outside. The ordinance also says owners should bring their dogs inside if the temperature drops below 40 degrees or rises above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores said the ordinance would not go into effect for six months to allow county officials to make any changes that might be necessary. Owners and breeders of hunting dogs told commissioners at a County Commission meeting Aug. 21 that the rules should be different for certain breeds of dogs.
Local bear hunters in particular said they had a problem with the temperature restrictions in the ordinance. They pointed out that dogs used for hunting bears and other animals are bred to hunt in cold weather, and must be acclimated to those temperatures.
Last week, state DNR director Frank Jezioro wrote a letter to Kanawha County Commission President Carper, saying the temperature restrictions could seriously hurt the effort to control the county's bear and coyote populations.
"As you know, we have increasing populations of both coyotes and bears in Kanawha County," Jezioro wrote. "Both of these are hunted with dogs and mostly during cold weather."
Jezioro said there are not enough trained bear dogs in Kanawha County to control the bear population, and that hunters must come in from surrounding counties. "When this happens, they stay in motels or camp and in either situation it would be impractical to require they bring their dogs indoors if the temperature goes below 40 degrees," he wrote.
Carper said he has never seen a hunting dog chained outside a Motel 6. He isn't sure he buys the argument that bears and other animals are a serious problem in Kanawha County.
"The idea that there is some type of pandemic of rabid coyotes, rabid raccoons and bears running amok in the counties I did not know," Carper said. "My family has owned and managed hunting dogs since the 1930s, so I know a little bit about this."
But DNR officials say bears are troublesome in Kanawha County.
"They're a huge problem," said Chris Ryan, black bear project leader and head of research for the Division of Natural Resources. "We have a lot of bears."
Though Kanawha County is the fourth-largest county in West Virginia by area, the county had 76 complaints about bears last year, the most of any county in the state. There are about 1,000 bears living in the county at any one time, or more than one bear per square mile. With about 200,000 residents, that comes out to about one bear for every 200 people.
DNR officials say bear hunting is vital to control the bear population in Kanawha County, as well as Fayette, Raleigh and Boone counties. Together, the four counties account for a large proportion of the state's bear population. Bears are such a problem in the four counties that state legislators passed some of the most liberal bear-hunting regulations in the country to control them, DNR officials said.
Ryan said there is a special early bear-hunting season -- with dogs -- Sept. 21-26 aimed specifically at pregnant females. Archery season runs Oct. 17-Nov. 21, he said.
Bears also can be hunted in Kanawha County without dogs during the regular hunting season Nov. 23-Dec. 25 and with dogs Dec. 7-31. Hunters kill about 100 bears a year in Kanawha County, Ryan said.
Although DNR officials do not keep records for hunting of smaller animals like raccoons and coyotes, Ryan said Kanawha County also has a significant and growing coyote problem.
"I live in South Hills, and I have them right behind my house," he said.
http://wvgazette.com/News/200909090221?page=1&build=cache
By Rusty Marks
Staff writer
September 9, 2009
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Officials for the state Division of Natural Resources have weighed in on Kanawha County's recently passed dog-tethering ordinance.
Last month, members of the Kanawha County Commission approved a new ordinance that requires dog owners to keep their dogs on tethers at least 10 feet long or in pens appropriate to the size and breed of dog when the animals are outside. The ordinance also says owners should bring their dogs inside if the temperature drops below 40 degrees or rises above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores said the ordinance would not go into effect for six months to allow county officials to make any changes that might be necessary. Owners and breeders of hunting dogs told commissioners at a County Commission meeting Aug. 21 that the rules should be different for certain breeds of dogs.
Local bear hunters in particular said they had a problem with the temperature restrictions in the ordinance. They pointed out that dogs used for hunting bears and other animals are bred to hunt in cold weather, and must be acclimated to those temperatures.
Last week, state DNR director Frank Jezioro wrote a letter to Kanawha County Commission President Carper, saying the temperature restrictions could seriously hurt the effort to control the county's bear and coyote populations.
"As you know, we have increasing populations of both coyotes and bears in Kanawha County," Jezioro wrote. "Both of these are hunted with dogs and mostly during cold weather."
Jezioro said there are not enough trained bear dogs in Kanawha County to control the bear population, and that hunters must come in from surrounding counties. "When this happens, they stay in motels or camp and in either situation it would be impractical to require they bring their dogs indoors if the temperature goes below 40 degrees," he wrote.
Carper said he has never seen a hunting dog chained outside a Motel 6. He isn't sure he buys the argument that bears and other animals are a serious problem in Kanawha County.
"The idea that there is some type of pandemic of rabid coyotes, rabid raccoons and bears running amok in the counties I did not know," Carper said. "My family has owned and managed hunting dogs since the 1930s, so I know a little bit about this."
But DNR officials say bears are troublesome in Kanawha County.
"They're a huge problem," said Chris Ryan, black bear project leader and head of research for the Division of Natural Resources. "We have a lot of bears."
Though Kanawha County is the fourth-largest county in West Virginia by area, the county had 76 complaints about bears last year, the most of any county in the state. There are about 1,000 bears living in the county at any one time, or more than one bear per square mile. With about 200,000 residents, that comes out to about one bear for every 200 people.
DNR officials say bear hunting is vital to control the bear population in Kanawha County, as well as Fayette, Raleigh and Boone counties. Together, the four counties account for a large proportion of the state's bear population. Bears are such a problem in the four counties that state legislators passed some of the most liberal bear-hunting regulations in the country to control them, DNR officials said.
Ryan said there is a special early bear-hunting season -- with dogs -- Sept. 21-26 aimed specifically at pregnant females. Archery season runs Oct. 17-Nov. 21, he said.
Bears also can be hunted in Kanawha County without dogs during the regular hunting season Nov. 23-Dec. 25 and with dogs Dec. 7-31. Hunters kill about 100 bears a year in Kanawha County, Ryan said.
Although DNR officials do not keep records for hunting of smaller animals like raccoons and coyotes, Ryan said Kanawha County also has a significant and growing coyote problem.
"I live in South Hills, and I have them right behind my house," he said.
http://wvgazette.com/News/200909090221?page=1&build=cache