Nine ‘hunters’ lured Florida black bears with pastries to be attacked and killed

Some states allow bear hunting, but Florida prohibits anyone from pursuing, molesting, capturing, hunting, injuring or killing black bears. 'This is not sport', said Attorney General Pam Bondi. 'This is cruelty to animals'.

BRIAN NEWLIN: ‘Nine people were arrested for animal cruelty after investigators said Wednesday they had illegally used pastries and other foods to lure Florida black bears that were then attacked, chased and killed by packs of dogs. Some states allow bear hunting, but Florida prohibits anyone from taking, pursuing, molesting, capturing, hunting, injuring or killing black bears… Investigators believe the dogs were being trained to hunt black bears before being sold to hunters in states where the practice is allowed. “This is not hunting. This is not sport,” said Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. “This is cruelty to animals.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began investigating in January 2018 after videos on social media showed black bears being attacked by packs of dogs. Investigators said Haley Reddish, 25, posted several videos to Instagram showing the attacks. One video reportedly showed a hunting dog attacking a bear with the caption, “Boss actually had the bear caught by the face, the bear didn’t have him caught! LOL.”

Another video showed a bear clinging to the top of a tree as a pack of dogs barked below, investigators said. Someone could then reportedly be heard beating a stick against the tree, causing the bear to jump to the ground where it was attacked by the dogs. That video had the caption, “This bear thought he could fly.” Both videos were believed to have been recorded in the Ocala National Forest based on unique foliage seen in the footage’. SOURCE…

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