Rhode Island lawmakers approve bill to ban “captive hunting” operations

Lawmakers have approved legislation that would let Rhode Island join the more than half of states with a full or partial ban on “captive hunting” — a hunt that occurs within a structure designed to restrict the free movement of animals and prevent them from escaping.

The bill would bar the use of manmade or natural barriers intended to prevent animals from fleeing the confined area of a hunt. Private lands set up as hunting or shooting preserves, or game ranches, are included.

The legislation also states no species of animal may be imported or captured for use in captive hunting. The bill was first proposed after a sporting club had sought permission to import exotic animals, like elk and boar, for members to hunt on its property.

The legislation would not apply to the release of domestic game birds on public property, or on private property licensed by the state Department of Environmental Management as a shooting preserve for the purpose of hunting.

“Physically preventing an animal from escaping death is not hunting, and I do not know a single active hunter who thinks such practices are acceptable,” said state Rep. Scott Slater, a Democrat, one of the sponsors of the bill.

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