Lisa Jablow is a longtime animal advocate and a board member of Protect Our Wildlife and the Windham Disaster Animal Response Team.
BRATTLEBORO-An open letter to Gov. Phil Scott:
To quote Yogi Berra, "It's like déjà vu all over again."...
Lisa Jablow is a longtime animal advocate and a board member of Protect Our Wildlife and the Windham Disaster Animal Response Team. Bray's bill (S.258) was passed by the Senate and died this session in the House Committee on Environment and Energy. BRATTLEBORO-The wildlife advocacy movement has never been...
Recently, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department fielded a survey on Vermonters' attitudes towards trapping. Despite spending $45,000 on this survey - more than twice the revenue generated through trapping licenses each year in the state - documents obtained via a public records request show that the Department seemed...
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (Department) fielded a survey recently on Vermonters' attitudes towards trapping. Documents obtained via a public records request show that the Department seemed more interested in advancing a pro-trapping agenda than in genuinely understanding the public's attitudes. Despite this bias, with vaguely worded survey questions, the results still reveal that most Vermonters oppose trapping. The survey didn't clarify what types of trapping the questions were referring to, so respondents answered without knowing whether the survey...
In recent years, numerous incidents in Vermont have chased the practice of hounding out of the shadows and into the light. Along with hunting and trapping, hounding is a sacred cow. Its advocates reverently refer to it as a longstanding “tradition.” Its opponents argue that just because it's been practiced for hundreds of years doesn't make it right. And so, the controversy continues to chase its own tail. When hounding, GPS-collared dogs are released from confinement to track the scent...
Wildlife advocates recently presented four petitions at the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board meeting, including a petition to restrict recreational trapping. Despite the fact that the petitions were submitted to Fish & Wildlife in February, we petitioners were contacted only one week prior to the June board meeting and were told that we had to attend in person if we wanted to participate. Fish & Wildlife staff responded to the petitions with presentations that were not so much responses as...
There's an activity occurring right now in Vermont, on both private and public lands, that many are unaware of: hounding. Hounding is akin to dog fighting - it is lawless and unregulated, and those who participate in it have no regard for hunting ethics. It involves unleashing packs of powerful, radio-collared dogs upon a lone coyote and running it to exhaustion, with the final “treat” of cornering the terrified, and often injured, animal and ripping it to shreds. Photos posted...
Do you think a hunter should be able to kill a bobcat solely for the “sport” and leave the body to rot where the animal was killed? If not, then you're in the majority! Tragically, Vermont has no laws that prevent this behavior, and it happens every year. As a term, “wanton waste” is fairly clear, although “wanton” is not exactly a staple of everyday conversation. The top three definitions of “wanton” in Merriam-Webster are “merciless/inhumane,” “malicious,” and “extravagant,” making...