South Carolina Eliminates Cruel Bear Baying Sport

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has ended the sport of bear baying by denying residents permits to own black bears. Bear baying is when a bear is tied up, sometimes having its teeth and claws removed, while dogs subdue the animal, or keep it at bay. Besides the mutilation and inhumane confinement the bears suffer, many times they are attacked by the dogs, as was shown in an undercover investigation conducted by the Humane Society of the United States. “Bear baying is nothing but a blood sport similar to dogfighting and cockfighting and has no place in South Carolina,” says Kim Kelly, South Carolina state director for the HSUS. Recently, six bears who were used in the baying competitions were rescued and brought to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keensburg, CO.