Adverse effects of hunting with hounds on participating animals and human bystanders

Abstract

Hunting mammals with hounds is little studied. We present two datasets consisting of quantitative and qualitative data from self-selected respondents. The first came from hound handlers reports of hound injuries with post hoc verifications by government agents. The second came from by-standers reporting eyewitness encounters with hounds or handlers. Self-selected samples cannot be used to extrapolate rates in space or time but do provide nuances of human-animal and human-human interactions. From In the state of Wisconsin, USA, we describe government data on 176 hounds reported to have suffered injury during encounters with wolves. The government did not collect data on wolves or other non-target animals that may have been injured during these encounters. We investigate two wolf-centered hypotheses for wolf-hound interactions, find little support for either, and propose new hound-centered hypotheses. We also describe 105 human bystanders reports of experiences with hounds, handlers, and law enforcement agents.