04/06/2026
This is exactly why vague legislation is so dangerous. Once broad authority is created, it can be used later to restrict additional long-standing working-dog practices that were never clearly debated in the first place. Responsible dog training is not abuse. It is a necessary part of preserving working ability, breed purpose, and safe, effective performance in the field. You may think this doesn’t affect you and your sport. This may start with hunting dogs, but look at the greyhound, I guarantee other dogs sporrts won’t be far behind.
Use Washington State as an example of how these types of restrictions can create long-term management problems. In 1996, voters approved Initiative 655, which banned the use of dogs for hunting cougar and bear. Washington’s own wildlife materials note that this law substantially changed cougar harvest and management. Years later, the state moved to allow a managed pursuit training program (those are live animals folks) involving hounds under specific circumstances, illustrating that dogs trained on live animals remained an important, practical tool in predator management.
The dog moms and dads making policy on working dogs of any kind are about as knowledgeable as some of these people who thinks a leash, a latte and their own you tube channel counts as professional experience.
I’ve worked for the government on a predator control team, many times relying heavily on highly trained working dogs. For some coyote packs, we relied on a lure dog to bring the coyotes into range. These weren’t hypothetical situations, these coyotes were actively killing calves as they were being born, eating them alive, as they lay half way out of the birth canal, attacking them while the cows were still down.That dog was effective because it was trained on real coyotes, in real scenarios, for real-world work.
So I have to ask—how effective do you think that training becomes when it’s reduced to only being able to drag a coyote pelt or pig skin on a rope and nothing else?
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Congress is considering a dangerous amendment to the 2026 Farm Bill that threatens the future of lawful hunting, working dogs, and long-standing animal training practices across the United States.