An 81-year-old Sussex County woman was sent to the hospital after a bear attacked her and killed her dog on Jan. 3, and District 24 lawmakers say Gov. Phil Murphy bears some of the blame.
State Sen. Steve Oroho (R-24) was joined by Assemblyman Parker Space (R-24) and Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-24) as they doubled down on prior messaging that Murphy was ignoring science in favor of politics in regards to the bear hunt.
“How many more times will the Murphy Administration allow this to happen before they finally leave wildlife management to the professionals?” asked Oroho.
Attack Kills Dog
“The experts should be determining a sound bear management policy for New Jersey. Instead, the Administration has settled on a politically motivated policy that is dangerous and irresponsible.”
A published report indicated the Sparta woman placed her garbage out for Tuesday delivery, and when she let her dogs out, two bears had already torn open the garbage bags.
The dogs charged the the bears, and while the larger one ran into the woods, the other bear swatted one of the dogs. The woman then ran towards the bear, which bit and scratched her. After the altercation, the bear dragged one dog into the woods with the other dog chased in pursuit.
“As serious as it was, this could have been much worse,” said Space. “Things went bad in a hurry, and that is exactly what can happen when there are too many bears in the wild and they encroach on residential areas in search of food.”
“Without a safe hunt to control the bear population, we’re going to continue to see more cases of people being hurt or killed. This stubbornness is putting lives at risk and there is no excuse for it. Governor Murphy needs to follow the science and allow for a bear hunt,” added Wirths.
Restart Bear Hunt
Gov. Murphy announced in October 2020 that it would be the last bear hunt under his administration, and although the New Jersey Fish and Game Council approved an emergency black bear hunt in September, the Murphy Administration blocked it.
At the time, Oroho argued Gov. Murphy was preaching “science” during the coronavirus pandemic but ignoring it when it came to the black bear hunt.
“There are too many bears for the environment to support, so they wander out of the woods and into neighborhoods in search of food and shelter. There is nothing humane about bears starving in the wild. It is a recipe for disaster that can be mitigated with responsible hunting controls,” said Wirths in July 2021.
Were her garbage bags left out not enclosed in strong bear proof containers? (the story says “bags”) Would a bear hunt have done anything in this situation? (almost definitely not). Love Republicans who politicize the issue as they do all issues. And I love when they say that Murphy “followed the science” on Covid but not here. Dollars to Donuts the Repubs were against mask and vaccine mandates and therefore not following the science there but claim the Fish and Game Council is somehow “science”-based. We know that the so called “experts’ at the Fish and Game Council are not scientists but hunting advocate shills. The Repubs have sunk so low into the stupid zone…..
Misleading lead to this story in order to sell a bear hunt. The bear did not attack the dogs. The dogs attacked the bear. The bear was defending itself. When the woman ran towards the bear, the bear perceived her as an additional attacker, and again, tried to defend itself. What could have prevented this? Bear proof trash containers for one. Unsecured garbage is the number one reason bears are attracted to neighborhoods. Leaving trash out in bags is unintentionally feeding bears and attracting them you your house. Unsecured garbage also increases the bear population. Black bears are the slowest reproducing mammal in North America. Their reproduction rate is based on food. With so much garbage available for them to eat bears can have as many as four cubs instead of their natural one or two. Reps. Oroho, Space and Wirths don’t seem to understand black bear biology at all. They are not following science but only their own desire for a hunt. They call for a bear hunt, but a hunt will have no lasting effect on bear population and will increase nuisance bear encounters as orphaned cubs losing their mothers haven’t been taught how to forage for food in the wild. As for politics, keep in mind all three reps are either endorsed by the Sportsman’s Foundation or Outdoor Alliance, both pro hunt groups. Space also owns Space Farms, a business built on animal exploitation.