Indiana Coyote “Penning" An Inside Look at Animal Abuse and Cruelty Report

by
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Project Coyote
Animal Welfare Institute

W.C.I. Foxhound Training Preserve, Spencer, Indiana


This report addresses penning in Indiana, where recent regulations and litigation have made it a particularly controversial subject. Mounting evidence has shown that pen operators in the state are blatantly violating the law, and are regularly killing prey animals and even dogs as part of their “field trial” hunting competitions. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has nonetheless turned a blind eye to this illegal conduct, and continues to allow and encourage penning in the state.

Until recently, few people were aware of penning except for the participants in this illegal animal market. This changed after a 2007 interstate sting operation by Alabama conservation officers that revealed a large network of wild animal traffickers. The sting operation produced a great deal of media attention in Indiana and elsewhere, and the public called for immediate regulation to prevent the unfettered trade of live animals for use as bait. In response to this public outcry, the Indiana Natural Resources Commission (INRC) adopted a rule in 2008 to prohibit the trade and sale of live coyotes outside of hunting and trapping season.

During this rule adoption process, it was revealed that there were coyote penning enclosures operating in Indiana. IDNR dodged repeated requests for additional information about these facilities, but months later finally admitted that there is one known coyote penning facility (now known as the WCI Fox Hound Training Preserve, Inc., or “WCI”) that exists in Greene County just north of Linton, Indiana. IDNR also disclosed that this same facility had been operating “without complaint for over 20 years” despite the fact that Indiana lacks any law explicitly authorizing coyote and fox pens.


http://www.projectcoyote.org/documents/IN_Penning_Report_PC_ALDF_AWI_Final_low_res.pdf



W.C.I. Foxhound Training Preserve
Michael Hardy
1956 W State Hwy 46
Spencer IN 47460

At least 19 states explicitly allow coyote and/or fox penning
Alabama
Alaska
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
Michigan
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin



Graphic Video on Penning Coyotes

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/wkfW8sx8uVM