BOSTON -- On the eve of “National Hunting and Fishing Day,” the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has ruled in favor of wildlife protection advocates in their suit challenging the sport hunting programs on the Cape Cod National Seashore. Judge Patti B. Saris has ordered the National Park Service to conduct an environmental assessment on all of the seashore’s sport hunting programs -- including the release of thousands of non-native pheasants for sport hunting -- and has halted the stocking of pheasants and the six-week pheasant hunting season which was slated to begin on October 18.
The plaintiffs in the case include The Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the United States, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and several Cape Cod residents. The groups claim that the release of non-native pheasants threatens the seashore’s fragile ecosystem and is contrary to the National Park Service’s own policies which prohibit the intentional release of exotic wildlife.
The pheasants, native to Asia, are raised on intensive bird farms, where farmers put “blinders” on the birds and cut off part of their beaks. The tame birds are completely unprepared for survival in the wild, and many are shot by hunters within hours of being released. Those who survive are killed by predators or vehicle collisions, or succumb to starvation. Cape Cod National Seashore is also home to numerous ecologically important native plant and animal species, including a number of species listed as endangered or threatened in the U.S. or Massachusetts. Hunting dogs run off established trails, disturb native wildlife, and disrupt fragile plant life. In addition, pheasant hunters sometimes abandon their dogs in the seashore, leaving them free to trample sensitive plants and disrupt wildlife for days until animal protection officials capture them.
“No sport hunting activities on the seashore stand up to environmental muster, but introducing exotic pheasants for hunters to use as targets simply goes beyond the pale,” said Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals. “There is nothing remotely sporting about shooting tame birds raised in captivity. The seashore may as well offer hunters the chance to shoot fish in a barrel.”
“The National Park Service will now need to address the legitimate concerns brought forward by the numerous Cape Codders who oppose pheasant stocking on the national seashore,” said Jessica Almy, wildlife advocate at the Cape Wildlife Center, a program of The Humane Society of the United States. “As a community, we care about public safety, the environment, and animal welfare -- all of which are compromised by this outdated practice.”
The groups are represented in the suit by the public interest law firm Meyer & Glitzenstein.
