Better yet, I want Dennis to talk with Trevor who claims that “any dog with its nose on the ground and ass in the air” is fair game.
Contradicting their previous assertion that the dog “must be tracking” prey.
Every dog smells its way around. Justifying the killing of a dog simply because it’s using a natural instinct and not necessarily “tracking” is sadistic.
When talking with Dennis, he said that just seeing a dog running on a deer trail would not be considered a capital crime, and that the regs are followed strictly; i.e. the pursued animal must be perceived as being in mortal danger of being taken down. Even a dog chasing a deer out of a garden is not considered serious...it's one reason people have dogs.
But you can bet the farm that Trevor will not be calling Dennis, nor any other warden. When I was growing up in MI, deer chasing dogs WERE shot on sight. Deer were kinda scarce back then (the 50's), couldn't even shoot does. Times have changed, deer pops have exploded (I shoot between 10 and 30 a year) to crop predator status. When I moved to FL 20 years ago, I went deer hunting with neighbors, using dogs to drive deer. I didn't care for it, but learned much...the deer are never caught by the dogs, and it has little impact on the population. The hobby is slowly dying out around here (N FL), I assume because the cost of keeping good dogs in good kennels is soaring.
Trevor either has an antidog mindset or an outdated mind. Whichever it is, his attitude has been rejected on this thread, life is good.
Damn, I miss my Newfs.