Indianapolis, Ind. (Aug. 1, 2012) – On Monday, August 6th, at 1:00 PM, Circuit Court Judge Frank M. Nardi will again be given the opportunity to serve the people of Indiana. His courtroom in the Owen County courthouse will be the setting for yet another battle on high-fence “canned” hunting: a hearing to grant or deny a summary judgment, filed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Judge Nardi’s court originally set the hearing for April 1, moved it to June 1, then to July 5, and now has it placed on Monday’s docket.
Most Hoosiers are aware of the debate created by high-fence hunting preserves: the ethics of hunting animals confined in high fence enclosures, whether these animals are wildlife or livestock, and the danger to Indiana’s wild deer herd from chronic wasting disease, a mad-cow like illness that can be carried by animals raised for, and transported to, high-fence hunting preserves. There is no cure for chronic wasting disease. It has spread to 18 states that are spending millions of tax payers’ dollars to combat the disease.
The law is clear: high-fence hunting is illegal in Indiana. Judge Nardi should rule so. Further delays are a disservice to the people of Indiana.
Barbara Simpson, Executive Director, Indiana Wildlife Federation
Gene Hopkins, President, Indiana Sportsmen’s Roundtable