[BethanY]

i know there's a michigan thread but i wanted to make sure this message was available to all. if you are not a michigan resident yourself but know someone who is, please spread the word! please vote on november 7th!!! if you are not currently registered to vote, tomorrow (oct. 10th) is the deadline to do so!

Last year, the Michigan legislature narrowly passed a bill, which was signed into law by Governor Jennifer Granholm, that allowed the sport SHOOTING OF MOURNING DOVES for the first time since 1905. The Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting ban collected more than 275,000 petition signatures to get a dove hunting referendum-Proposal 3-on the November 2006 ballot. Voting "No" on Proposal 3 will restore Michigan's 100-year tradition of protecting mourning doves.

There is no management need for hunting doves, and they are shot simply for target practice. Doves are not overpopulated, do not cause nuisance problems, and have very little meat on their tiny bodies. Scientific studies also indicate that more than 30% of the mourning doves shot are wounded and not killed immediately and enduring a prolonged death.

 

[karenlovessnow]

I'm not in Michigan, but that is absolutely awful!

 

[sunshinegal]

I lived in MI all of my life and moved to FL two years ago. Granholm is doing a number to that state and I know all of my family up there cannot wait to vote her out! I will pass this info onto my MI family.

 

[krista82]

I am in Michigan and I will vote a big NO on proposal 3. I can't believe we have to even vote on something like this, they should just automatically be protected like they have always been. I saw the commerical eariler and was so saddened. Those poor doves. Everyone needs to do what they can to protect them!

 

[troub]

I forgot she signed that into law... of course DeVos (other candidate currently running) would have signed it as well. So it looks like when I vote, I'll just write "NONE OF THE ABOVE" over the governer section - don't like either of them anyway... I wonder if Kucinich could run for michigan governer too...

oh but yeah, no on 3.

 

[krista82]

How can people shoot something so beautiful and peaceful as a dove and live with themselves?

Some people have no regard or respect for the lives of animals. They have the right to life too!

But you could get in big trouble with the ASPCA if you shot a dog or cat but it's ok to shoot a dove. Why?

 

[BethanY]

i just cannot see how or why. not that i think there's ever a reason to kill an animal (obviously) but there appears to be absolutely no reason for this!

 

[Lilith]

Please everyone in Michigan, vote! Four years ago in my homestate of Ohio, we had the same issue on the ballot, and the morningdoves lost! I was astounded that the non-hunting of these birds lost to the hunters of Ohio, they became fair "game" to being shot and killed at. Made no sense to me then, I still don't understand why people voted (or maybe NOT VOTED), pro killing these beautiful birds!!

 

[peace]

Thanks Lilith, I also remember the travesty that happened in Ohio.

A major problem I think was confusion among voters. The pro-animal side was VASTLY outspent by the NRA, etc. Ohioans faced a barrage of ads from the dove hunters but virtually none from humane groups. The ads never mentioned doves and were among the most aggressively misleading political ads. According to these TV and radio spots, if Ohio approved the dove hunting ban, meat would be outlawed, family farms would be forced to close, and babies would die of terrible diseases because medical research would be crippled. Other ads meanwhile showed the kind of people who supported the proposition: scary masked terrorists screaming and smashing windows. To his eternal discredit, Jack Hanna appeared in a pro-dove hunting ad.

Humane ads were woefully underfunded and were few and far between. There seemed to be 10 anti-animal ads for every 1 humane ad. I certainly hope Michigan does not repeat Ohio's history. I also hope the humane effort is well-funded enough that they do not let the opposition run rampant with their misinformation.

 

[BethanY]

bumping this

 

[krista82]

I am really excited today to find out that Michigan voted no on proposal 3. Thanks for saving our mourning doves!

 

[GhostUser]

I'd be surprised if it passed.

 

[krista82]

I would be too, but you never know with people. I guess there weren't enough hunters out there to vote "yes" on the proposal.

My dad told me eariler that there were many hunters actually against the dove hunting, so that's good!

 

[BethanY]

yes!!! i was getting nervous. i'm so happy that michiganders did the right thing : )

 

[Jessica Alana]

Yay US!