Minister Bill Bennett

To Premier, Trophy Killing of Grizzlies begins again in B.C.,An inhumane & barbaric killing for the fun of it!

by Barb Murray
April 1, 2016June 27, 2016
25 Comments

BearsForever Photo taken in Great Bear Rainforest of Head of Five Year Old 'Cheeky', a eco-viewed juvenile grizzly — BearsForever Photo taken in Great Bear Rainforest

On Apr 1, 2016, at 11:45 AM,

From: Bears Matter
Sent: ‎Friday‎, ‎April‎ ‎01‎, ‎2016 ‎10‎:‎33‎ ‎AM
To: [email protected]

Dear Premier Clark,

Open Letter:

Today is the day that you and your government allow trophy hunters, both resident and non-resident, to stalk, wound, orphan and kill grizzlies and black bears just out of hibernation. Some of these bears will be male, at least 30% will be female and of those females some will be mother’s with tiny cubs who they will hide at the first whiff of trouble.

Premier Clark, you and your government are solely responsible for the killings, wounding and orphaning of our unsuspecting, innocent, majestic grizzlies found in their natural habitat. They will be eating sedge grasses, shell fish, shoots and roots etc. as they try and regain the 40% of their weight lost from their long winter’s sleep. Most of the trophy hunters won’t even bother with the fur this time of year but will just take the bear’s head and paws and of course take that all important selfie!

The ”Super Natural B.C.” I know and love has NO place for Trophy killing of sentient beings such as bears! This sport or hobby by a few is a travesty, an international embarrassment, a social injustice and of course it is just simply inhumane.

Letter Sent to @DestinationBC re: Ad Showcasing Grizzly Bear just before Trophy Hunt Begins

by Barb Murray
March 26, 2016June 27, 2016
10 Comments

Disgraceful Photo and Practise of Killing Grizzlies for just their heads and photo op! — Bears Matter added: Poster fr BC Guide Outfitters materials in 2013!

Letter copied to Bears Matter and reproduced with permission:

Subject: Super, Natural British Columbia and trophy hunting
Date: March 25, 2016 at 11:14:55 AM PDT
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]

Dear Minister Bond,
I’ve lived and worked in British Columbia all my life and every day am grateful to have been born here. The recently launched Destination B.C. materials showcase our province’s people, the animals, the communities and pristine wild spaces and I think “yes, this is what my home looks like”.

But there is a glaring disconnect between what the material portrays of B.C. wildlife and the continued legal practice of trophy hunting in this province. It’s a serious schism. Killing wild animals for sport or trophy is a violent, disrespectful practice that certainly wouldn’t be included in tourism materials. This highlights a glaring misalignment of attitudes toward our wild species that needs to be remedied.

Guilty Plea from Clayton Stoner, $10K Fine & 3 yr Hunting Ban

by Barb Murray
November 15, 2015June 27, 2016

Protesters against illegal poaching and hunting gather outside B.C. Provincial Court before Anaheim Ducks defenceman Clayton Stoner was expected to enter a plea in Vancovuer Friday Nov. 13, 2015. Stoner is charged with five counts under the Wildlife Act after a grizzly bear was killed on the central coast in 2013. Photograph by: Darryl Dyck, CP — Protesters against illegal poaching and hunting gather outside B.C. Provincial Court before Anaheim Ducks defenceman Clayton Stoner was expected to enter a plea in Vancovuer Friday Nov. 13, 2015. Stoner is charged with five counts under the Wildlife Act after a grizzly bear was killed on the central coast in 2013.
Photograph by: Darryl Dyck, CP

Update by Bears Forever Organization on the Outcome of the Clayton Stoner Case. He was found guilty of holding a resident Limited Entry Hunt tag for a grizzly bear when he was not a resident of the province at that time …Mr. Stoner was fined $10,000 and banned from hunting in B.C. for three years. From facebook page of Bears Forever https://www.facebook.com/bearsforeverbc

As everyone celebrates Clayton Stoner being sentenced today, here are some things to bear in mind:

1) Trophy hunting is not illegal under Settler law. Stoner has simply been found guilty of hunting with the wrong kind of license. We need to make this illegal under Settler law so the activity stops completely.

2) Stoner is also guilty of contravening the Indigenous ban on trophy hunting under Indigenous law, and the Settler courts have no jurisdiction over that.

3) No one would have caught Stoner in the first place if First Nations hadn’t been investing their money and energy in monitoring hunt activity. The Province has NO capacity to effectively regulate or monitor the hunt. That burden falls to us.

4) Justice for the Grizzly shot by Stoner, is important. But what we’re fighting for with the Bears Forever campaign is justice for ALL bears. That won’t happen until the province regulates an end to the hunt. And we won’t stop our work until they do.

You can find out more about what we’re doing at bearsforever.ca

Vancouver,NHLDucks Clayton Stoner to Enter Plea in case of ‘The Trophy Killing of a Grizzly’

by Barb Murray
November 12, 2015June 27, 2016

November 12, 2015 MEDIA ADVISORY

Vancouver, B.C. – Anaheim Ducks Defenseman, Clayton Stoner (originally of Port NcNeill, B.C.) faces five charges for Illegally Killing ‘Cheeky the Grizzly’ in the Great Bear Rainforest in May 2013. After three adjournments Stoner’s lawyer is finally expected to enter a ‘guilty’ plea at Robson Square Provincial Courthouse-800 Hornby Street, Rm 101 at 9:30a.m.

Updates on Pacific Wild & Bears Matter Change.org Petitions: Graphic Grizzly Hunt Video Gone Viral

by Barb Murray
September 14, 2015June 27, 2016

https://www.change.org/p/protect-grizzly-bears-by-banning-the-trophy-hunt-in-bc

Update fr Pacific Wild Sept 13, 2015 ‘Have you seen this video?’ Warning: Graphic Content

Bears Matter

Sep 14, 2015 — Have you seen this video? (Warning: Graphic content)

Pacific Wild
Sep 13, 2015 — A very violent video of a trophy hunt kill went viral earlier this week in Canada, and now newspapers across the country, in particular B.C., are amping up the call for an end to the trophy hunt of grizzly bears.

www.pacificwild.org/ChristyNeedsToSee

One journalist has gone so far as to challenge Christy Clark, the premier of B.C., to watch the video and tell B.C. she still supports the trophy hunt.

Globe & Mail Article by Gary Mason & Graphic Video; ‘I Challenge BC’s Premier to Watch this Grizzly Bear Hunt Video’

by Barb Murray
September 14, 2015June 27, 2016

It seems bizarre that we can be outraged by the trophy hunting we witnessed in Africa, but allow the same thing to happen in our own country.
(Fotofeeling/Westend61 GmbH)

GARY MASON

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Sep. 11, 2015 9:19PM EDT

Last updated Saturday, Sep. 12, 2015 3:15PM EDT

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/i-challenge-bcs-premier-to-watch-this-grizzly-bear-video/article26344883/

There are images that hit the Internet that break our hearts. And there are those that make us furious. A new video making the rounds on social media is managing to do both – and the B.C. government should be alive to the backlash it is creating.

The video opens with a grizzly bear wandering nonchalantly on a remote hillside. A shot rings out that kicks up dust beside the bear, with no evident impact on him. An off-camera voice urges the shooter to fire again. And then the carnage begins: For the next 90 seconds, you can only watch in disgust and horror as the bear is peppered with bullets from a rifle that seems to have only enough power to torture this poor creature to death, rather than end its life in anything resembling a humane way.
Warning: The video below is extremely graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/i-challenge-bcs-premier-to-watch-this-grizzly-bear-video/article26344883/

There are two parts of the video that are particularly disturbing: the bear running in a tight circle in reaction to the bullets hitting him; and then its final, crushing, end-over-end death tumble down a snow-covered hillside, a trail of deep red blood covering his fall line. Soon, the hunters can be heard laughing and celebrating, elated that the bear’s cartwheel to the bottom of the hill means less work lugging the carcass out of the bush.