Two former Ontario conservation officers are imploring the province to reverse plans to expand a sport that allows dogs to track down captive coyotes, foxes and rabbits in massive fenced-in pens.
Rick Maw and Wayne Lintack say the dog sport, which is often referred to as training and trialing, is cruel to the captive prey.
They say the well-meaning regulations are impossible to enforce and the safety of the prey is not guaranteed.
Natural Resources Minister Graydon Smith says the sport is safe to both dogs and prey, since it doesn't call for contact between the animals.
The Ontario Sporting Dog Association also says the sport is safe for dogs and coyotes.
But Maw and Lintack say coyotes have been hurt and killed by hunting dogs in the pens.
The training part of the sport sees hunting dogs let loose in these areas, which are often hundreds of hectares in size, but fenced in around the perimeter.
The dogs learn to hunt animals like coyotes, which are caught in the wild and re-homed to these areas.
The trialing portion are competitions with judges who score the dogs on their hunting skills. Points are awarded and champions crowned.
The retired Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers who dealt with dog train-and-trial areas as part of their job say the sport should be banned outright.