News
Anti-Dove Hunting Group Files Complaint Against Opponents
Anti-dove hunting group files complaint against opponents
Published June 2, 2006
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A group that wants to reinstate a ban on mourning dove hunting in Michigan says its opposition is using an illegal fundraising technique to fight them.
The anti-dove hunting group - called the Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting Ban - wants the state attorney general's office to investigate a sweepstakes advertised by a group called the Citizens for Wildlife Conservation.
"This sweepstakes is not licensed by the state and therefore constitutes an illegal lottery," said Julie Baker, a leader of anti-dove hunting group.
A Citizens for Wildlife Conservation board member said the sweepstakes is legal and that people can enter it without donating to its cause.
On its Web site, the group features a "Save Our Heritage Sweepstakes" that includes a grand prize of 40 acres of Upper Peninsula woodlands or $20,000 in cash. Other donated prizes include a salmon fishing trip, shotguns and a pheasant hunt.
A sample copy of the entry ticket says "no purchase necessary" in small print and includes the phrase "$5.00 contribution" in larger print. Its official sweepstakes rules say "no purchase or donation is necessary" under the section detailing how to enter.
Rob Sexton of the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, a Citizens for Wildlife Conservation board member, said the sweepstakes can be entered for free but that most who enter choose to donate. The tickets have been available for several weeks, are available in some stores and have been distributed at some fish-and-game related events.
"It is completely within the law," Sexton said.
The group that wants to stop dove hunting says Michigan law forbids the operation of lotteries to support or defeat a ballot proposal.
In November, Michigan voters will decide whether to reinstate a ban on dove hunting. The ballot proposal was sparked by the Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting Ban, a group that has been backed by The Humane Society of the United States.
Hunting and conservation groups have said the campaign is a first step in a broader effort to take away hunting and fishing rights in Michigan.
Citizens for Wildlife Conservation is backed by the Michigan United Conservation Clubs and other groups including the National Rifle Association.
Citizens for Wildlife Conservation's Web site says its goal is to raise more than $3 million to "defeat the anti-hunters' attempt to bring their animal rights crusade to Michigan."
In addition to the sweepstakes tickets, the group's Web page has a link for general cash donations.
After lawmakers passed legislation to allow it, Michigan held its first dove hunt in nearly a century in late 2004. The idea was to allow a series of trial hunts in a few southern Michigan counties to determine the effects on the dove population.
But the Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting Ban gathered enough voter signatures to get its proposal on the November ballot and suspend the trial hunts. The group says the dove is a song bird that should be protected.
Dove hunting is allowed in 40 other states.
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