Opposition Mounts To Spring Bear Hunts In Ontario – Starving Bear Cub in Ontario is One Too Many, says renowned celebrity activist Bob Barker

A Submission from one of Canada’s foremost animal activist groups, Zoocheck Canada

Legendary TV star and animal protection advocate, Bob Barker and his colleagues at Zoocheck are appealing to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and members of provincial parliament to stop the proposed spring bear hunt. The hunt will result in new cubs starving to death when their mothers are killed.

American TV icon Bab Barker strikes out against Ontario spring bear hunt

The Ontario spring bear hunt was cancelled in 1999.  The Ontario government at that time indicated that the unethical orphaning of young cubs in spring, when they would slowly starve to death, was the reason for the cancellation. 

After emerging from the winter den, cubs are very small and unable to travel quickly.  Nursing females often cache their cubs in sanctuary trees while they go off in search of food.  As a result, nursing females often approach hunter’s bait sites alone and are killed.  History has shown that simply prohibiting the harvest of cubs or females accompanied by cubs isn’t enough to ensure that cubs are not orphaned and left to starve to death.  The only way to stop the orphaning is to not allow spring hunting.

“I’m shocked that Ontario would return to the barbaric, unethical practice of hunting bears in the spring, a move that will almost certainly result in tiny cubs starving to death,” Bob Barker said in a statement today. “These so-called sportsmen set out bait when the bears are coming out of hibernation and are hungry.  The bears don’t stand a chance. It’s not sport, it’s legislated cruelty.”

The Ontario Government has stated that the spring hunt is being resurrected to protect people from bears, but their own science disproves that assertion.  According to Zoocheck, the Ministry of Natural Resources own bear biologists have reported that human-bear interactions are caused by people leaving out food attractants for bears (such as improperly stored garbage).  Ministry reports specifically note that hunting of bears in spring will NOT reduce the number of human-bear interactions.

“This decision to allow spring bear hunting has nothing to do with science.  If the Ontario government were serious about reducing the number of human-bear interactions they would follow the lead of other jurisdictions who take a science-based, humane approach to wildlife conflict and enact legislation that prohibits people  leaving out food attractants for bears and other wildlife,”  stated Barker.  “I encourage the people of Ontario to contact their Members of Provincial Parliament and let them know they do not support the decision to allow spring bear hunting and remind them about the cubs that will endure the worst suffering.”

An Afterword by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – Okay, Zoocheck and Bob Barker have had their say on the Ontario government’s complicity in wiping out what is left of our bears, an already struggling species we should feel awed to share this planet with. Now now I am going to have mine. And I am not going to be as polite or diplomatic about it as them, Here is where my inner George Carlin comes out, if you know what I mean.

I say let Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who should know better than allow any more genocide on these great animals, say yes to one more spring bear hunt in the province, and let’s do it this spring during a possible provincial election.

Only Wynne and her government should only give bear-hunting licenses to the pin-headed pricks that like to go out with their guns and militia outfits under the following conditions.

They – and I mean those lucky gun-toting rednecks awarded the licenses – should all be made dress up in bear suits, and the last one of these jack-offs left standing wins. By ‘wins’, I mean that the last pin-headed prick still standing should be eligible for a prize. But only, and I mean ONLY – and it will most likely be some armpit smelling HE with the brain about the size of a fruit pit –  agrees to be stripped naked and spend an hour in a fenced-off (and I am talking razor wire here, folks) den of bears.

Just to keep any of these idiots from participating in a hunt of that nature, maybe Ontario’s premier should assure them that they won’t be charged with any crime for shooting someone wandering around the woods in a bear costumes. It will be just chalked off as some form of wardrobe malfunction.

Now getting back to the last prick standing, if he manages to survive  his fun in the den, I think we should at least generous enough to award him with a prize. Maybe just a toaster or something, given the hard times, but give him his toaster and sned him back home just so long as he promises never to go oout in the woods again.

And here is the most attractive part for the rest of us struggling, taxpaying Ontarians. Let the Ontario government film the whole hunt, starting with the bang, bang, bangs with the morons in the bear suits.  And make it a Pay-Per-View. I would be willing to bet that it might flush in enough revenue to pay off Ontario’s deficit – even from people who might know or be related to these bear-killing maroons. Think about it, we might be able to use abominations like this as an opportunity to balance the province’s budget. But do we?

Find out more about one of Canada’s most resilent animal advocate group’s, Zoocheck Canada by clicking on http://www.zoocheck.com/ .

Here is a petition you can sign to the Ontario government from the Association for the Protection of Fur-bearing animal http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/ontario-minister-of-natural-resources-do-not-re-institute-the-spring-bear-hunt

Then just do a simple Google or other search for contact information for Ontario Premier Kathleeen Wynne and press her to stop a kill on what is left of our great wildlife in this province. If you need help, you can start by contacting the Premier here by clicking on https://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/en/feedback/default.aspx .

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