Pat Carter (Oct. 16) has repeatedly used this page to mislead readers about the bear referendum, falsely portraying it as part of “an avowed mission to stop all hunting and fishing in this country” by The Humane Society of the United States and its CEO, Wayne Pacelle.

Neither HSUS nor Pacelle has ever held such a position or proclaimed such a mission, despite being falsely accused and wrongly quoted by critics such as Carter. The facts refute the opponents’ accusation.

The HSUS, with over 40,000 Maine members, has supported over 15 ballot initiatives to outlaw inhumane and unsporting hunting and trapping practices, but has never attempted to outlaw hunting entirely. The opposition cannot substantiate their claim by naming even once when a bear-hunting initiative was followed by an HSUS effort to ban all hunting because it has never happened. In Colorado, Oregon and Washington, voters approved measures similar to Maine’s. None has had a subsequent initiative to outlaw hunting entirely.

In a classic bait and switch, the opposition attacks HSUS but never mentions the cruelty inflicted by leg-hold traps. They never acknowledge that baiting entails no “hunting” or sportsmanship but is like shooting animals in a zoo. They never acknowledge that the proposed law provides exceptions for dealing with “nuisance” bears, and never address the fact that baiting – habitual feeding – creates nuisance bears.

Only Maine “manages” is bears by bear trapping, baiting and hounding – a collection of cruel, unsporting and unnecessary practices still legal only in Maine.

Anita Coupe, Biddeford Pool

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