Unleashing packs of hounds on wild animals is not a solution to any kind of human-wildlife conflict, nor can it be remotely considered a kind of hunting involving good sportsmanship. It seems absurd that in 2025 we would need to say this, and yet, here we are. Several bills across the U.S. show that such obvious statements need to be made.
In California, two bills recently sought to allow hound hunting in the state: AB 1038 aimed to restart bear hounding in the state under the false pretense that the practice improves public safety. (It does not.) And SB 818 would have allowed dogs to chase mountain lions; it was proposed in response to a fatal incident, even though sound science shows hounding lions doesn’t reduce conflicts.
Thankfully, our work to beat back these ridiculous proposals seems to have been successful—for now. The former was defeated in committee last week (although it could come back next year), and the latter’s language was gutted to prevent hounding and to allow for more humane and effective wildlife conflict mitigation. (It now sits in an appropriations committee.)
Don Despain/Alamy Stock Photo
But these bills show the ongoing nature of our work to protect wildlife across the U.S. from a small contingent of trophy hunters who want unmitigated freedom to practice as much cruelty as they please in their pursuit of killing the wildlife so many people cherish.
Some of these attempts employ false premises that trophy hunting can reduce wildlife conflict, when humane solutions are not only morally uncomplicated—they are also common sense. For example, hungry wild animals will return to an area if food attractants remain accessible, in unlocked garbage bins, for example, in the case of bears. Removing food sources that attract bears or mountain lions will remove the threat of wildlife conflict, while hunting bears will not. In fact, we gathered bear-hunting data in 34 U.S. bear-hunting states. We found that while the number of bears hunted has increased, conflicts did not decrease. Unleashing packs of hounds is a bloody and, frankly, absurd response.
And yet we are seeing a push to allow hound hunting, also known as “hounding,” across other U.S. states as well. Using dogs to track wild animals dates back many hundreds of years, to when hunting was purely for subsistence, but hounding to hunt wildlife such as foxes then became an elite kind of activity for the upper classes in England. Today, like other forms of trophy hunting, it is as antiquated as it is cruel, and it has no place in the humane world so many of us are trying to create. That’s why, here at Humane World for Animals, we believe hound hunting should be banned worldwide.
Hunters who use hounds to hunt down wild animals are known as “houndsmen.” These days, houndsmen use packs of dogs wearing GPS-radio collars to chase wild animals, such as bears, mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes until the exhausted animal climbs a tree or gets cornered on a cliff. The hunter then moves in for an easy, close-range shot. In many cases, the houndsmen watch the chase remotely from trucks, ATVs or even from tablets.
This practice isn’t humane, nor is it fair—some hunters oppose hounding because of its unethical sportsmanship. It causes immense stress and suffering for wildlife anywhere near the packs of hounds. And since the dogs roam unsupervised, they can hurt or kill nontarget animals, such as bear cubs, fawns, ground-nesting birds and even protected species.
In many U.S. states, dogs are allowed to chase wildlife even outside hunting seasons just so they can be trained. That means bears, bobcats, wolves, coyotes and others are harassed while raising young or searching for food. Hounds will kill young cubs and kittens and ground-nesting birds.
Hounding is also inhumane for the dogs: Hounds can suffer from broken bones, punctured lungs or deep lacerations in their fights with wildlife. Despite putting their animals in harm’s way, houndsmen in Wisconsin will then make compensation claims and blame wildlife for the injury or death of their hounds. And when hounds are no longer useful—if they are too slow or injured—they may end up abandoned in the wild or dumped into shelters, straining already limited resources. Because of the way these dogs have been trained and treated, they are particularly difficult to place, making them more likely to be euthanized.
Humane World for Animals
Hunting hounds can endanger farm animals and people, too. Chases can spill onto roadways, putting both animals and drivers at risk. Dogs don’t respect property lines either—causing conflicts with landowners and their pets and farm animals. Dogs can also trespass on protected areas like national parks.
Hounds cause both physical and psychological stress to the animals they pursue. Long chases, especially in hot weather, can kill bears outright—because they wear heavy coats and put on fat layers to survive winter hibernation. Even if the bear survives, the stress and energy loss can weaken them. Mountain lions—like other cats—have limited lung capacity and cannot hope to outrun hounds, who can run for hours. Mother bears and mountain lions are smart, protective and nurturing. They spend more time raising their young than most other animals. But when packs of dogs are turned loose in their habitats—from swamps to deserts to mountains—their young may never get the chance to live.
At Humane World for Animals, we have been working hard to stop hounding proposals before legislatures and wildlife commissions in several states, in addition to California. In Arizona, we helped defeat HB 2552, which would have made hounding permanent by blocking the state wildlife commission from banning it.
And in Florida, we’re fighting efforts to reopen a deeply unpopular and cruel black bear trophy hunt—one that would allow chasing bears with hounds and luring them with bait. The Florida public has made its stance perfectly clear: 89% of Florida are voters opposed to hounding, and a strong majority (81%) oppose opening a bear hunt altogether. Reintroducing such a hunt—especially with these extreme methods—ignores the public’s sentiment and risks worsening the mistakes of the highly controversial 2015 bear hunt, which drew national criticism for its mismanagement. (Florida residents still have a chance to make their voices heard by submitting comments to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and attending the meeting on May 21.)
Hounding should be banned, and those bans need to be upheld. In Great Britain, the hunting of mammals, including foxes, deer, mink and hares, with hounds has been outlawed for more than twenty years, after animal protection groups campaigned against this highly unpopular, cruel practice for decades. Campaigners, including Humane World for Animals UK, continue to be concerned at exemptions and “accidental kills” in which animals are chased and killed each year, and are working to have the law strengthened.
There is no excuse for the continuation of hounding. It is dangerous for wildlife, pets, people and the hounds themselves. It’s not a fair chase. It’s not conservation. It’s simply cruelty. That’s why every community must reject hounding once and for all.
