Members of California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, a group of avid hunters, protested outside the capitol. They say the Hound Dog Ban Bill will cost the state money and could endanger California citizens. Democrats argued the practice of "hounding" is inhumane and gives hunters an unfair advantage. But Republicans say that's not the case.
Assemblyman Bill Berryhill said, "If you are hunting bears without dogs you are much more likely to cripple bears. You are much more likely to kill a mother bear with cubs because you don't see them. When you tree a bear you know that it's a big male and an old male and those are the ones that these guys shoot. They don't shoot the mom or the cubs."
Assemblyman Berryhill says hounding keeps the bear population at bay and keeps bears out of people's backyards, where they could injure people.
