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U.S. NEWS Thursday 19 July 2018

Investigation leads to closure of 6 Virginia fox pens

By SARAH RANKIN
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A
two-year investigation has
led to the closure of six of
Virginia’s nearly 30 fox pens,
large enclosures in which
wild foxes are contained
and chased by hunting
dogs, Attorney General
Mark Herring’s office said.
Herring’s office told The As-
sociated Press ahead of
an official announcement
Wednesday that its Animal
Law Unit had secured nine
guilty pleas from people
involved in a sweep target-
ing fox pens stocked with
illegally purchased wildlife.
Six pens lost their licenses
as a result. They are among
the first licenses to be re-
voked since the passage
of a 2014 law intended to
phase out the controversial
practice, Herring spokes-
woman Charlotte Gomer
said. “Any individuals who
participate in activities like
wildlife trafficking or ille- In this Jan. 31, 2013, file photo, opponents of fox penning wear orange hats as they wait for a meeting of the Senate Agriculture,
gal fox penning should be Conservation and Natural Resources Committee at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. Associated Press
brought to justice,” Herring 29 permitted fox pens in and received suspend- ning and the illegal activ- ing punished for dealing in
said in a statement. Virginia, mostly in the south- ed sentences of varying ity that can accompany illegal wildlife.
Supporters say the facili- central part of the state lengths. Some faced fines. it,” Matthew Gray-Keeling, But Burch added that he
ties, which are required to and Tidewater region, said The purchase and sale of Virginia state director for hoped the preserves could
have an escape for the Bob Duncan, executive di- wildlife is generally prohib- The Humane Society of eventually reopen, saying
foxes, provide a safe way rector of the Department ited in Virginia, although the United States, said in a it was unfortunate that a
to train hunting dogs. But of Game and Inland Fisher- pen owners may contract statement. “We sincerely handful of violators were
animal welfare groups and ies. They range in size from the services of a trapper to appreciate Attorney Gen- shining a bad light on a
other opponents argue the a minimum of 100 acres to purchase a certain num- eral Herring’s work to strictly sport he said many of his or-
pens are cruel to the foxes, 600 or 700 acres, he said. ber of foxes a year, with a enforce Virginia’s laws and ganization’s approximately
which are sometimes killed, Fox hunting is a centuries- fee that’s supposed to be shut down these illegal and 90,000 members enjoy.
and say they don’t have a long tradition in the state, based on the trapper’s time inhumane operations.” The pens that lost their per-
true element of fair chase but fox penning emerged in and effort, Duncan said. Kirby Burch, chief executive mits are in Buckingham,
like a hunt in the wild. the 1980s as a way to elimi- “These convictions clearly officer of the Virginia Hunt- Lunenburg, Appomat-
Some compare fox pen- nate damage from hunts demonstrate the cruel, in- ing Dog Alliance, said he tox, Dinwiddie, King and
ning to dog fighting. Her- running through crops or humane nature of fox pen- was glad to see people be- Queen, and Brunswick.q
ring’s office said the prac- animals being killed along
tice sometimes deviates highways, Duncan said.
from a training exercise to “These things have be-
include gambling or com- come hugely popular,”
petitions to see whose dog he said. “People travel all
can catch the confined across the Southeast and
fox. The 2014 law made even across the country to
erecting or maintaining train dogs and run dogs.”
such a pen illegal, though The nine people who
it grandfathered in existing pleaded guilty in the inves-
facilities that will eventually tigation were charged with
have to close. illegally purchasing wildlife
As of Tuesday, there were