Ahead of the Heard
Agriculture Minister Jack Hayden probably thought Bill 11, the Livestock Industry Diversification Amendment Act, would go unnoticed through the legislative process and dodge media scrutiny. That probably would have happened, but the good old boys at the Alberta Fish and Game Association (AFGA) quickly sounded the conspiracy alarm. That alerted city media and other critics who couldn’t resist the bait and alleged Bill 11 was just a devious plot to secretly allow hunt farms in Alberta. I wish that were true, it would right an injustice that was created back in 2002, when hunt farms were outlawed under the Klein administration.
Minister Hayden put out the media fire by noting that Bill 11 formally outlaws hunt farms and cervid hunting on licensed operations. Critics questioned why then are domestic deer and elk being transferred from the Wildlife Branch to Alberta Agriculture if not to facilitate the establishment of hunt farms. Again I hope that would be true. The government line for the transfer is that domestic elk and deer producers are farmers and ranchers and should come under the jurisdiction of Alberta Agriculture, and not the Wildlife Branch. Be that as it may, I didn’t detect any groundswell of support even by the elk industry for that transfer to occur. Perhaps they know more about a conspiracy, real or imagined.
Conspiracy or not, there is a bigger picture here that needs to be addressed. I suspect that unofficially, Minister Hayden and every previous ag minister since 2002, knows the prohibition of hunt farms in Alberta is unfair and unwarranted. This is particularly true when such operations are allowed to legally operate in Saskatchewan and a number of American states. Back in 2002 and now again, the hunt farm prohibition is a PR reaction to pressure from the urban media and disparate lobby groups. They painted a misleading perception of what hunt farms were deemed to be, that being the infamous “shooting ducks in a barrel” scenario. Squeamish city folks figured that this image was a terrible fate for the noble and majestic elk; although, indiscriminately killing rats and other less handsome nuisance animals is okay by the public, but I digress.
The folly of the prohibition is particularly obvious when Alberta elk ranchers sell prime antlered specimens to hunt farms outside of Alberta. That makes a mockery of the critics and the AFGA position on the hunt farm issue, as it should. The fact is the prohibition does not stop Alberta elk from being used for hunt farm purposes. It would be better to address that reality and put into place a hunt farm regulatory regime in Alberta that serves the best interests of farmed elk and their owners. Hunt farms are a legitimate way to market domestic elk and should be encouraged and not banned by government.
I remain perplexed by the anti-hunt farm position of such groups as the AFGA. They state that elk hunting should involve the “fair chase” principle, the idea being that an animal should have the opportunity to escape the deadly pursuit of the hunter, it’s something they claim can’t be done on hunt farms. I would suggest that is a human emotional response and not an elk perception. I believe if an elk had to choose its demise, it would probably choose a quick death, something that is likely to occur in an abattoir or on a hunt farm. I do not believe an elk would choose the “fair chase” principle, that being relentlessly chased and terrorized by hunters (perhaps on quads and accompanied by hunting dogs), being shot at a long distance with laser directed (they now exist) high powered rifles, perhaps being only wounded and left to die a horrible slow death and then being disemboweled alive by opportunistic predators. Perhaps I exaggerate, but such a possible fate makes a quick demise at an abattoir or hunt farm seem a lot more humane, certainly to the elk.
Besides hunt farms increase hunting opportunities for those who insist on the “fair chase” in the wild. It would take some hunters out of the wild and onto hunt farms, thereby increasing the number of available wild elk. One might ponder that more wild elk should be a boon to AFGA members. But then maybe there is more to the story, the AFGA is a member of the Alberta Conservation Association which receives a checkoff portion ($millions?) of the hunting licenses issued annually in Alberta. It would seem that perhaps hunt farms are seen as a potential threat to that income, some of which is used for wildlife conservation purposes, sort of like a public hunt farm program. I guess there could be a conspiracy with this issue but it all depends on one’s angle.