I was just wondering what everyone's opinions were on this. Is it cruel to use dogs for hound-style hunting? I'm not talking about retreivers or pointers...I'm talking about the kind of hunting where the dog actually tracks down and attacks the animal.
In this area of the U.S., hounds are used for hunting squirrels, raccoons, hogs and occassionally coyote. The vet suspects that Zeus was actually being trained for hunting before we got him: he has an insanely high prey drive for small game and does not hesitate to attack and kill a prey animal. My father-in-law, when he was a boy in Kentucky, used to go coyote hunting with greyhounds.
I personally don't have a problem with hound-style hunting. In that respect, I think it's great to see dogs using the traits they were bred to have.
What do you think?
In this area of the U.S., hounds are used for hunting squirrels, raccoons, hogs and occassionally coyote. The vet suspects that Zeus was actually being trained for hunting before we got him: he has an insanely high prey drive for small game and does not hesitate to attack and kill a prey animal. My father-in-law, when he was a boy in Kentucky, used to go coyote hunting with greyhounds.
I personally don't have a problem with hound-style hunting. In that respect, I think it's great to see dogs using the traits they were bred to have.
What do you think?