New Mexico: Tethering Bill Amended – Not Good Enough – Sportsmen’s Alliance
https://sportsmensalliance.org/news/new-mexico-tethering-bill-amended-not-good-enough/
On Monday, March 6, the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee passed an amended version of Senate Bill 429.
As previously reported, SB 429 prohibits the tethering of dogs for all hunting, trialing, and training. The bill was amended to exempt “dog sports” and “public events such as picnics, adoption fairs and group training classes,” but it is entirely unclear if these new exemptions will be applied for hunters utilizing dogs during hunting, field trials, and training.
Sportsmen should be outraged about this. Bill proponents obviously took the time to consider some groups of dog owners and their associated activities but refused to recognize legitimate hunting-related activities as deserving of protection.
One of animal-rights extremists’ favorite attacks is to suggest that tethering a dog, for any and all reasons, is animal cruelty. And in this case, they went ahead and exempted some activities from the tethering ban, just none of the activities that matter the most to sportsmen. This lends more credence to the theory that animal extremists want to end all hunting with dogs and will use whatever trick at their disposal to do so. We have to fight back on this and let them know we will not be treated as second-class citizens.
SB 429’s next hearing will be in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Next week’s hearing agenda has not been announced, but with next week’s expected legislative adjournment, we expect SB 429 to move quickly. We will keep you posted when SB 429 is placed on the agenda.
Make sure you share this alert with your family, friends, and fellow sportsmen, as every sportsman throughout the Land of Enchantment needs to stand up and be counted on this one. We cannot let the animal extremists win and drive a wedge between the hunting community and fish and wildlife managers. Make your voice heard loud and clear.
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
