The Culling of Hunting Dogs

Culling, or the removal of dogs from a pack based on certain criteria, such as performance, health, or behavior, is part of the tradition of hunting with dogs and is still in wide practice today.

In hunting dogs, breeding to improve genetic make-up is just one reason for culling, there are many others. Culling is also used as a means of eliminating dogs with unde-sirable traits not related to genetics and qualities that are more a matter of preference and not necessarily undesirable. Hounds are culled from the pack when they are in-jured, are no longer useful within the pack (but may be suitable for another pack), or are too old to hunt, in which case culling is a means disposing or eliminating the Hound, usually by killing(1) them.

Culling has always been integral to breeding, raising, and training Hounds. It’s also inte-gral to the disposal of Hounds who succumb to age-related disease or other health conditions that affect their ability to hunt. Culling can take place at any stage of life, and for whatever reason it seems. Rarely is it done strictly for reasons related to breeding and genetics, and almost never to mitigate Hound suffering. Hounds are bought, sold, traded, bartered, auctioned, neglected, abused, injured, and killed for the flimsiest reasons.

The quotes in this video came from publicly available sources and were surprisingly easy to find. Despite the fact that it’s illegal to kill your dog except under very specific conditions (humanely euthanizing an injured and suffering dog, for example), killing to cull is discussed openly, usually without any effort to disguise the individuals or the top-ic. In fact, in many of these conversations you get the sense they are PROUD TO BE UPHOLDING TRADITION and believe they’re entitled to do what they want with their dogs. There’s a righteous quality to their tone.

We encourage you to undertake your own online search for information related to the culling of Hounds and draw your own conclusions.

In the meantime, the Hounds in our care once known as strays will now be referred to as culls, or culled Hounds. The term stray belies the reality of the circumstances these dogs to be found wandering, and the miserable existence of their lives before being cast aside, tossed out like the weekly trash. These Hounds were victims of the practice of culling. We’ll call it what it is and maybe others will be enlightened and start to do the same.

(1) “Euthanasia” is often (mis)used to describe culling by death. The definition of euthanasia is ending the life of another being (person, dog, etc.) to minimize their suffering. The vast majority of Hounds are killed by their owners not to minimize the Hound’s suffering but for reasons of convenience, economy, whatever, to the owner.
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Hounds of Grace is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Hounds in the South by helping the Hounds who need it the most in areas where help is most needed, sharing their stories, and supporting the efforts of others to help Hounds. With the support of foster families, volunteers, and community “Hound Angels”, we focus primarily on unwanted and mistreated Hounds in the field and provide the care and support they need to complete their journey to a better life.
Donations gratefully accepted - https://paypal.me/houndsofgracerescue
For more information, email us at [email protected].
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