South Carolina’s Shame

Recently the Humane Society of the United States conducted an investigation into bear baiting in my adopted home state of South Carolina. For those of you who don’t know, bear baiting is the practice of de-fanging and de-clawing a bear, tying him or her to a stake in an enclosed area and then setting a pack of dogs upon him or her for entertainment purposes. The idea that there are people living around here that find this kind of practice enjoyable to watch doesn’t enrage me as much as the notion that it is still legal in the Palmetto state. That’s right. Bear baiting exists in South Carolina not because it hasn’t been banned, but it is a permitted practice regulated by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The DNR holds regulatory authority over this despicable practice, and is tasked with enforcing rules such as not allowing repeated contact between the dogs and bear during a single event. According to the witness accounts and video tape obtained by the Humane Society, this rule was reportedly violated many times at the four events they visited. Supposedly the fact the bear is virtually defenseless makes this rule necessary.

Bear baiting was once common both in this country and around the world, but has been almost universally descried going back to even the 16th century in Europe. Bans on bear baiting began in the 19th century and currently the only place outside South Carolina one can see bear baiting in action legally is in Pakistan. I swear I am not making this up. It’s illegal in Iran and Sudan, but not South Carolina. Hopefully as the Humane Society shines a bright light on this cruelty South Carolinians will demand their elected officials to join the 1800’s and take action to ban bear baiting once and for all.

You can read more about the Humane Society's investigation here.