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URGENT NEWS for HUNTERS in CANADA

If you care about the future of hunting, please focus your attention on this important information.

Right now, the animal rights movement is pushing hard for animal cruelty legislation that, if passed, will have dire consequences for anglers and hunters. Recently, the Toronto Star editorial described the proposed law as "a measure that will make this country a world leader in animal rights."

For those of us who enjoy fishing and hunting, and supplement the family table with wholesome food from the wild, we respect wildlife and use it wisely. But according to the antis, the use of any animal is totally unacceptable. To them, all fishing and hunting is "brutal and vicious" and quite worthy of criminal prosecution under federal law. "Criminals" are exactly what we'll be if these extremists get what they want in the wording of the impending federal animal cruelty legislation, Bill C-50.

If the very act of bowhunting is interpreted as brutal and vicious, the antis will be in court pushing for precedent-setting prosecution. For the first time in history, the animal rights faction will have a judicial system to forcibly impose their beliefs.

Without the exclusion of legitimate animal use activities, those two little words -- "brutal" and "vicious" –- will set the stage for legal nightmares, especially for hunters and anglers.

Here then is the most recent topic on the animal rights agenda – a movement now politically connected, legally shrewd, and highly sophisticated. It has gone beyond the world of Disney to the halls of Parliament Hill.

Throughout North America, and especially in Ontario, we have certainly felt the ripple effects of the 40-year-old animal rights movement. Years of "anti" messaging from Hollywood, combined with the infiltration of "anti" propaganda in our classrooms, have shaped an extremist element focused on abolishing all animal use. Their goal is to end all forms of hunting (and then fishing) starting down the list with Ontario's spring bear hunt and the United Kingdom's traditional fox hunt.

The animal rights philosophy advocates not only for animal rights but animal liberation. "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy" is one of the absurd themes you'll hear from groups like PETA.

With an annual budget of over 24 million dollars, PETA pushes its agenda through the power of the media and with endorsements from high profile celebrities. Their campaigns and emotional rhetoric unlock the pocketbooks of unsuspecting cat and dog lovers, unaware that these groups also claim that "pet ownership is the moral equivalent of slavery."

In the last decade, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has done its share of stomping out anti propaganda. We've lobbied vigorously against their proposed bylaws and legislation. We even launched legal action to bring back the spring bear hunt – by far, the most dramatic example of the antis' presence right here in Ontario.

In just the past 12 months, the O.F.A.H. has had to speak out against an increase in animal rights absurdity including claims that "hunters cause vehicle collisions with deer", "bowhunting is cruel," and "fishing is immoral." We've also had to ask ourselves if the antis were behind the creation of the impending federal tackle ban proposal.

Indeed, these recent attacks highlight the animal rights agenda but they are dwarfed in comparison to the potential implications of an unnecessary animal cruelty law. If this legislation is passed as the animal rights groups have penned it, wild animals will be elevated in law to their own status.

The O.F.A.H. has been working tirelessly to ensure our outdoor traditions are protected from an unnecessary animal cruelty law that could open the door for the animal rights fanatics. Our frustration with bad government decisions aside, the cult of animal liberation is the Number One Enemy. Their well-funded agenda should be the Number One Reason why every angler and hunter must be a member of the O.F.A.H.

Clearly, the animal rights movement continues to build momentum in Canada.

They are raising millions of dollars, mobilizing thousands of members, and lobbying their political friends – not for animal protection and research but to forcibly impose their radical beliefs.

It's time to be heard.

If you're not an O.F.A.H. member, just exactly who is representing your fishing and hunting interests?

The government?

The animal rights extremists?

Together, O.F.A.H. members are working to block anti campaigns that already target classrooms, the media and now our judicial system. But we can't do it alone – we need your VOICE in O.F.A.H membership.

Hunters spend hundreds of dollars for a great hunting season. Don't let another day go by without investing in a great hunting organization.

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