Bear baiting (aka “bear baying”) is legal ONLY in South Carolina.

*Please sign only if you are a resident of South Carolina, USA

Some hunters claim bear baiting is a field trial or competition – intended to train dogs to hunt bear in the wild. In reality, it is a cruel blood sport held merely for spectator enjoyment.

The bear’s natural defenses are removed, as his claws and teeth are filed down. The bear is then closely tethered in a small area where teams of hounds are released in quick succession for several hours. The terrified bear foams at the mouth and defecates uncontrollably as the dogs bark, jump and lunge at him. Both the dogs and bear will likely sustain painful injuries.

Afterward, the bear is led back to his home – a 9 x 9’ cage with a concrete floor.

Children are often brought to these events.

In 2008, the South Carolina Attorney General released an opinion stating that bear baiting/baying violates the state’s animal cruelty law.

I, along with the great majority of South Carolinians, am outraged by this barbaric and abusive practice, and appalled that our elected officials continue to condone it. I am ashamed that my home state faces widespread reproach and disgust from the rest of the world due to this issue.

I ask that you, as my Representative and Senator and/or member of the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee, pass H 3490 into law during the 2013-2014 state legislative session.

It is time to leave this archaic, sadistic form of “entertainment” in the past and finally outlaw bear baiting in our state.