The Honourable Barry Penner			
Minister - Water Land and Air Protection		
PO Box 9047, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC  V8W 9E2
Fax:  (250) 387-1365
Email:  barry.penner.mla@leg.bc.ca


Dear Mr. Penner,

We understand that the Ministry of Environment is starting a review of the Wildlife Act, with the intent of introducing revisions in the legislature in 2008.  We strongly encourage you to allow Conservation Officers (CO) in British Columbia (BC) to use trained dogs to teach wildlife to recognize and avoid human areas.

Section 78 of the BC Wildlife Act states that “a person commits an offence if the person causes or allows a dog to hunt or pursue wildlife or an endangered species or threatened species” except in accordance with hunting regulations (Government of British Columbia 1996).

Bear hunting with dogs is allowed in only two provinces in Canada:  Ontario and BC.  BC hunting regulations for 2005-2006 permit the use of dogs for hunting all game, in many cases off-leash, during hunting seasons (Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection 2005, p. 17, under Section A: "...Unleashed dogs may be used to hunt small game, lynx, bobcat, grizzly bear, black bear or cougar").

So... pursuing bears with dogs for the purposes of conservation is NOT permitted, although off-leash chases by hunters is permitted.  Since an exception has been made for hunting, we are asking for another exception to be made for conservation.

In the fall of 2006, Norm McDonald, our MLA, presented a petition on our behalf.  The petition called for legalizing the use of trained Karelian Bear Dogs by COs in BC through an amendment to Section 78 of the Wildlife Act. 

The use of Karelian Bear Dogs as a tool by COs may reduce the appalling destruction of close to 1,000 bears each year in this province.  Some bears are translocated - a costly and unsuccessful solution.  By the Ministry's own admission, "The use of translocation of animals as a response to wildlife conflicts has proven to be ineffective".  Most bears are killed - the cheapest and easiest solution. 

There are many examples of the success in using trained dogs to "teach" or "condition" bears and other wildlife.  This method has been used to manage human/wildlife conflict for close to a decade in places like:  Alberta, Utah, Montana, Nevada and California.

In its Human-Wildlife Conflict Prevention Strategy, the Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection promises to “develop and facilitate implementation of innovative solutions to prevent human-wildlife conflicts,” and to “change legislation as needed” to support such solutions (2003, p. 16).  The Bear Shepherding program provides the government with an opportunity to uphold these promises.

Please add your support to our petition for the amendment to Section 78 of the BC Wildlife Act.

Sincerely,
Your Name