Dear Honourable Diana McQueen:
With the help of a couple associates, I have been conducting research
into the history of hunting with dogs in Alberta and the earliest legal
reference I can find dates back to the hunting regulations of 1907. I have
attached that reference for your attention. The one line regarding the use of
dogs seems to clearly identify the intention of what activity it was that the
regulations of the time were trying to prevent. It reads, “No dog shall be used
by anyone to hunt deer.”
Clearly the intent of the law is to prevent dogs from being involved in
the actual hunting process, such as chasing or driving deer and not to prevent
hunters from being accompanied by a dog where that dog is not involved in the
actual process of the hunt. Having spoken with many retired Fish and Wildlife
officers in the course of the research, it seems pack dogs were an accepted
practice right through the ‘70s but unfortunately with the poor wording in the
current Wildlife Act, the intent of the law seems to have been lost and has
resulted in a legitimate group with historical use in the province being
excluded. I ask you again to please right this wrong immediately with an order
of non-enforcement until such time that the wording in the Wildlife Act can be
clarified to represent the true intent of this law.
Respectfully,
T.J. Schwanky
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