Editor's Note: The chapters below are excerpted from "Canned Hunts: Unfair at Any Price," a report originally published by The Fund for Animals on the practices, excesses, and ethical concerns of canned hunting today.
The closing decades of the twentieth century saw the rise of a new kind of "sport" in North America: the "canned hunt." Although canned hunts advertise under a variety of names--most frequently "hunting preserves," "game ranches," or "shooting preserves"--they can be identified by the two traits they all have in common: they charge their clients a fee to kill an animal; and they violate the generally accepted standards of the hunting community, which are based on the concept of "fair chase."
In some cases animals may be shot in cages or within fenced enclosures; in others they may be shot over feeding stations; some of the animals are tame and have little fear of humans, while others may be tied to a stake or drugged before they are shot. But whatever method is used, the defining characteristic of a canned hunt is that the odds have been artificially manipulated against the animal so heavily that the notion of fair chase is subverted. Canned hunts are commercial hunts that take place on private land under circumstances that virtually assure the hunter of success.
As the establishment of canned hunts increases, they are attracting more public concern about their ethical, ecological, and biological implications. After extensive research, The Fund for Animals and The Humane Society of the United States have concluded that these concerns are well founded, and we have compiled the information below to be used as a reference by members of the public, nonprofit organizations, legislatures, and government agencies in addressing the grave public policy issues raised by canned hunts.
To read "Canned Hunts—Unfair at Any Price in its entirety, download the PDF.
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