The battle lines in the ongoing defense and support of hunting , fishing and trapping are ever shifting . What we fight in 2023 looks very different than 30 , 20 , 10 or even a few short years ago . This is especially true at the bleeding edge of the conflict , in the trenches where the Sportsmen ’ s Alliance meets the anti-hunting animal extremists head-on to protect and promote our cherished outdoor traditions for future generations . In the Congress . In the state legislatures . In the courts . The Sportsmen ’ s Alliance is there .
Yet even though the contours and venues of the battle change year by year , there is one constant that remains true throughout our history as an organization . This constant is our defense of hunting with dogs . This reality is borne out of two basic facts . First , defending hunters is who we are , and this obviously includes those who hunt with dogs . Although other organizations don ’ t engage on dog-related issues , it is part of our DNA , and we are very proud to stand the tallest among hunting organizations when it comes to defending and fighting for those who use dogs in the field .
Second , animal-extremist organizations are constantly renewing the fight to insinuate their extreme worldview on the rest of America and , quite simply , the use of dogs for hunting doesn ’ t fit with their twisted outlook and what they want for the country . Put another way , the fight to protect hunting with dogs is continuous because the anti-hunters and animal extremists attack on this front with a particular zeal that has been , and will remain , relentless .
So-called " animal welfare " measures sought by anti-hunters make it difficult to train , house and hunt with sporting dogs of any breed .
Divide and Conquer
Animal extremists know that “ divide and conquer ,” as a political device , works . They know that hunters who use dogs make up a minority of the hunting population , and the best way to destroy hunting entirely — or so they hope — is to pick our community apart , one segment at a time . Among the keys to our success as an organization at the Sportsmen ’ s Alliance is that we unify the hunting community when any member of the family is under attack and respond with a single-minded intensity so that everyone is protected .
In recent years , this “ divide-and-conquer ” strategy on dog-related issues has grown in complexity and illustrates what is an emerging danger for hunting long term . In previous decades , animal extremists would openly seek outright bans or prohibitions on the use of dogs . Many will remember the cascade of hounding bans brought to ballot boxes and legislatures across America in the 1980s and 1990s . While these attacks continue today and the danger persists , on the whole , they are increasingly rare .
What is becoming much more routine is for “ animal welfare ” measures to be introduced or discussed , many under the guise of preventing “ animal cruelty ,” but having far-reaching effects that will crater our interests just as effectively as any outright ban ever could . The insidious nature of these measures may not be obvious but must be understood .
This isn ’ t rocket science . The animal extremists have used emotion to push , prod and drive their extreme viewpoints down the throats of everyday Americans for years . “ Animal welfare ” is straight from the same playbook , but what they have in their favor in present-day America are changing
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