Wildlife belongs to the people of Indiana

To the Editor:

Live coyotes and foxes are being trapped in Indiana and exported to other states to be used in a perverse form of "canned" hunting called penning, where the animals are released in an enclosed area and people (I refuse to call the hunters) pay to let their dogs chase these animals, often penning them in the fenced corner of the enclosure before tearing them to pieces.

Although Indiana has essentially outlawed penning, it still allows Hoosiers to trap and ship wild animals to states that do allow it.

The Indiana Natural Resources Commission (NRC) proposed a rule that would stop the sale of the state's live coyotes for six months each year. That's a start, but regulators need to go further. Please contact the NRC at nrcrules@nrc.in.gov and your state legislators to let them know that you are opposed to individuals selling Indiana's wildlife into the live market.

Per Indiana Code 14-22-1-1, Indiana's wildlife belongs to the people of Indiana, not to people of other states who engage in a grotesque blood sport.

William Wilson

Jeffersonville