As we approach the Nov. 4 election, we need to make a stand and vote yes on Question 1, the bear-baiting referendum, which would ban cruel and inhumane bear hunting practices.

Please think of the Maine bear as one of our natural treasures and an asset to Maine, as so many other states have acknowledged and protected their wildlife. I am not against hunting in general, but against the barbaric way of killing such an unsuspecting animal with no way to protect itself once caught in a trap. The bears remain trapped, in pain, waiting to be killed or in some cases, starving to death before they are found by the “hunters.” Trapping a mother bear means certain death to her cubs and the trapping of cubs is unnecessary and torture to mother and baby.

How can these cruel practices be allowed and called hunting in Maine? Why is Maine the only state in the nation which uses all three of the most inhumane hunting practices, trapping, baiting and hounding? Maine is way overdue to protect bears and even the dogs that are forced to chase them.

Please vote yes to ban the way we hunt bears in Maine. Let them be hunted the way we hunt other animals and stop the painful, terrible deaths that these incredible animals have to suffer. Have a heart and go vote.

Kim Moxcey

Waterville

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