Hunting expedition

I went hunting over the weekend in Mpumalanga, Middleburg. I had a ball. The guys take the sport very serious and that changes my perception of hunters. I used to think of hostel dwellers when I thought of hunting and dogs. I was with Doctors, Teachers, accountants, police, prison warders, business owners and a whole lot of professional people. The sport is bigger than I thought it was.
The guys are very professional, they do not hunt for meat, but to have a good time at the end of the day.

I saw quality, top of the range. I cant mention how many we killed just in case you forward this to the SPCA. But we had a good time, away from the noisy gossips. There were about 37 guys with more than 75 dogs. Next time, I will take pictures to share with you fellow bloggers.

Some of us were detained for trespassing, this comes with the package of course!

When you look at the quality of the dogs you see that these guys take the sport very serious. This is not to say we do not have guys who hunt for meat purposes, but the ones i was with are professional and well organised. Their dogs are clean and well looked after. Some of them have been imported from as far as Ireland and Australia and they spent a fortune in the process. Buying and importing a dog can be as much as R50 000. So you can imagine what class of people am I talking about. These guys go for the best bloodlines, they dont just go and buy from Baas Jon. They do their research and follow the bloodlines of a dog they intend getting and the money is not an issue.

Soon I will be joining the South African Greyhound Association. We need to take the sport to the next level, you cant beat them if you dont join them and in the process learn as much as possible and then run away and open your own. There are mnyama brothers who are already doing it and we have to join hands and take it to another level.

"Black Empowerment, I Love You". We now have farms where we hunt and have a good time, in the past we used to buy from Baas Jon, but he wouldnt let us hunt in his land. Even though the farms are used for braais and parties, at least they are there and we will one day plant something and keep at least one cow and one goat, for the party of course.

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12 hunters caught with Pistols machetes knopkieries and 16 dogs

http://mobserver.co.za//content/article_2html

Next time I will refrain from talking about hunters, police, SPCA and trespassing. In my last blog I was telling you that I was detained with other hunters for trespassing and a week later one of my mailing friends and fellow hunter, sent me an article about guys who were arrested the past week for trespassing and taken to the police station and the dogs............ your gues is as good as mine, to the SPCA. Dogs were said to be being starved and not given enough water. The guys were trespassing and as I post this I have no idea if they were charged or not but I will up date you next time.

The photoes are from the article by Daleen Naude, I hope I am not contravening copy right law by publishing them on my blog. He asked for comments on the issue as the farm owner also feels that he is not safe in his farm due to several issues that we are all aware of, like the murder and stock theft, but I agree with him 100% and this is a serious offence.

This is my comment that I sent to the newspaper or magazine regarding the article;

http://mobserver.co.za//content/article_2html

"to me the dogs look healthy and I do not see the neglect. I feel that these guys are looking after their dogs and there is no question about that. The SPCA is trying to score cheap points claiming that the dogs are abused, these dogs have owners who look after them.

They are fed the night before they go to hunt and by 9H00 in the morning they are back home eating. I do not support the fact that they are starved, in horse racing, are the horses fed before the race? I am not comparing the two but I am clue less as far as that is concerned. As an athlete, there is no way you can run with a full stomach.

On the issue of water, no one can hunt with a bucket of water on his back, but hunters only hunt where there are dams or streams for the dogs to drink. If you check in their bags you will find 2 litre bottles that are used to douse the dogs after a chase. If you give a dog water, it will drink not because it was about to die of thirst, but because it was running and the same applies to food.

I personally think that these guys are guilty of trespassing if they did not get permission to hunt on the farm. That is a very serious offence and as hunters they know its not allowed. But in most cases they ask the farm workers to speak to the farm owners and sometimes the farm workers lie and say they have been given permission and as soon as they see Baas coming with the Police, they change stories. The expriences of farm owners regarding murders in their farms make them call police on sight as soon as they see people on their farms. Anyone can do that, but I feel that dog hunting must be regulated just like trophy hunting (rifle hunting).

The SPCA must also do workshops to educate the hunters as far as the welfare of their dogs is concerned. Its a fact dog hunting is everywhere. As the SPCA helps with vaccinating the dogs against rabies and dipping, they must also educate our people on how to look after their animals. Dog hunting has been there for years and it will not just die like that. More workshops are needed to educate our people. We like the SPCA as they have the animals welbeing at heart., but I feel that they must be more visible, not appear only when there is dog neglect.

This is my personal opinion and has nothing to do with the case or hunters concerned. Where I used "we", does not imply that I represent a group of hunters. I also hope that my statement will not be taken out of context by the SPCA or any Animal Welfare Organisation, all I am saying is that we know they are there and they are playing a huge role in our society as far as protecting the rights of the defenceless animals. This is not meant to offend anyone.

Hunter

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