Penned Prey

Last night, Randy Travis of Fox 5 in Atlanta aired part two of his investigation into so-called fox pens—enclosures where foxes and coyotes are released and torn apart by hounds. The animals cannot escape, and the odds are stacked heavily in favor of the pack of hounds taking on a single, frightened animal. Although enthusiasts cast this as a form of hunting, it is in fact nothing more than a permutation on organized animal fighting.

Fox 5's I-Team investigation tracked a man from North Carolina who was trapping and smuggling coyotes and foxes, cramming them into small cages and crates, and selling them throughout the South to fox pen operators, who then used the animals for this perverse form of recreation.

On the scale of hunting abuses, let me know how bad you think this abuse is. Is it worse than canned hunts? How does it compare to bear baiting? Or aerial gunning of wolves in Alaska? Or contest shoots?

It raises the question: Who within the hunting fraternity serves as a watchdog? Is there anyone within the hunting fraternity who checks the excesses of rogue, reckless and vicious hunters?