Is ratting legal in any US state?

And if so, WHY?? A rat in a trap can take days to die. A rat in the square dies instantly.

 

It's legal. Not sure if it is legal everywhere in the US but it is legal in many states. Ratting that is. Rat baiting is illegal.

 

That was meant to be "why not".

 

Is it illegal only because it is a baiting sport? Having a carnivore--a dog, cat, ferret--kill rats instantly with one bite is a lot less inhumane than glue-trapping and poisoning. And of course black rats and Norway rats are both invasive species. It doesn't make sense that canned hunting is legal in some parts of the country but "canned" ratting is illegal.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by canned?

As far as why the baiting is illegal, I think that has more to due with Peta and these animal groups dictating animal laws in this country than anything else. It's also the illegal gambling that goes with it. The government here don't like when they don't get their cut....

 

You also end up having the fair chase debate with baiting.

 

New York has such a bad issues with rats right now that they have opened up dispatching them with dogs. That was very recently. Have to find that article and post it when i find it.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2017/03/23/these-fearless-pups-thirst-for-rat-blood/amp/

 

By "canned" hunting I am referring to shooting a farm-raised big game trophy animal in an enclosed space where the animal has no means of escape--the fair chase factor you mentioned is why most of the biggest trophy hunting orgs are opposed to "canned hunting", since it is completely unfair to the animal and is not truly hunting. I have no objection to rat baiting because a big swarm of rats can kill a dog/cat/ferret by biting it to death. I recall that several years ago in Anaheim a "tame" Norway rat bit a baby to death. I have been attacked by rats and they deliver some nasty bites, which is why I don't think rat pitting is unfair. I concur about the gambling aspect and the government wanting their cut.

 

I have seen news footage of New Yorkers going ratting in buildings with various terriers. Bulldogs, Staffies and Patterdales would be in ecstasy at that task. No doubt PeTA poops their britches about this pest eradication technique since they think rats are equal (superior?) to humans.

 

I wish I could join the Ryder’s Alley Trencher-fed Society.

 

Why not just start one ..downtown la. Skid row. Gots lots of rats.

 

Check out the gallery from the R.A.T.S. Facebook page. There are some Dachshunds in there, a Bedlington, a Rat Terrier, a Border Terrier, a Patterdale and what may be a white Staffy with black spots.

 

I was thinking of that too. Some of the rats around here are the size of cats, and that ain't hyperbole. They aren't afraid of humans, either.

 

I'm not against any of it. They are pests that carry a wide variety of parasites and bacteria. I personally believe in fair chase with big game when I go hunting but I'm not opposed to others doing canned hunting if that's what they wish to do.

 

I just wish they would call it "slaughter" (if they are going to eat the animal) as opposed to "hunting". I have nothing against shooting meat, but shooting a captive animal that cannot escape is hardly a hunt. I am against killing healthy non-meat "trophy animals"--not culls nor invasive species--just to hang their heads on a wall, but that is just how I feel. I completely support killing invasive species, from rats to feral pigs to Eucalyptus trees.

 

I never trophy hunt. If I'm in the woods it's for the meat. People always say to me why didn't you wait longer instead of shooting that 7 or 8 point deer when there are bigger ones probably close by and my answer is always the same, I dont eat antlers so I could care less about them. If it's a 7 point it's legal here so I'll shoot it without hesitation. If I could shoot a spike then they'd get it too. Lol. I don't feel trophy hunting is a bad thing per say so long as the meat is getting used. I myself wouldn't practice it though. I'd never go hunt somewhere that is fenced in and the deer are fed or baited at a certian area. The most exciting part of hunting for me is tracking, following and catching up to whatever it is I am hunting. The actual hunting part. I perfer to stalk an animal rather that still hunt from a stand and hope something walks in front of me.

 

I am with all the things you said. I haven't yet hunted meat, but I am very fond of venison and would like to bag some CA mule deer. All I have ever hunted with dogs are rodents, but even going pest hunting with dogs is a lot of fun.

 

To do a canned rat hunt wouldn't you have to first catch the rats. Why not just let the dogs hunt them in the first place?

 

Cuious the way rats have got rights-there probably the most un protected(by law)species...but they still seem to have rights?...they will always be with us.they can never be totally eradicated.and next to the fly they are the most deseasd thing in the world....but they still got rights?
How???eradicate the fuking lot of them I say..and I'm under the usumption that peta exc,have never had a rat problem...

Put some down there trousers I say.
Then there opinions would change on the rat.