"Canned Hunting" Preserve to Open in Grainger County

Exotic animals are trapped within a 65 ft enclosure in Grainger County, Tennessee, and being cruely hunted and killed for sport and profit, without hope of escape or a chance of survival. They live in this enclosed area for the reason of being shot at by people as 'sport'. There are even treestands inside the area. This is inhumane, and horrible, and should not be allowed to have ever been opened.

Please look at the animals on this website, and please forward and sign this petition:
http://www.clinchmountainhuntingadventures.net/SPECIES-INFO.html

Petition Link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/animals-being-brutally-killed-in-canned-hunts-i...

To view news video of actual footage, and animals walking right up to the camera, along with neighbor's protest go here: http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=61587&catid=2

News Release:
Along the quiet Dry Valley Road in Grainger County, a cow is about as exotic as you'll get.
That was before Robert Haun moved in and brought dozens of animals with him.

"You just can't go anywhere and get ONE," Haun said of the exotic animals. "Some people
have phobias of flying or not being able to afford the expense to go across sea and get ONE, so we're bringing IT to them."

"They're going TO HAVE TO go into the woods and sit down and hunt and walk and look and stalk for the animal that they choose, and it's not ALWAYS going to be a hundred percent success," Haun said.

He's responding to some criticism from some neighbors and animal rights supporters.
The Grainger County Humane Society opposes the hunting preserve, calling it a "canned hunt," but members make clear they do not oppose hunting.

"I was horrified," neighbor Betty Rich said. "I'm almost 80 years old, and I did not know that these facilities existed in this country."

Rich has written a letter to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, asking commissioners to consider changing their rules about the hunting preserves.
Right now, the preserves have to be a minimum of 20 acres. Rich says that's not nearly enough. She's pushing for 1,000 acres.

She and her daughter also are collecting signatures for a petition they plan to send to the state legislature.

"I'm against raising exotic animals domestically and putting them in a fence and shooting them for trophies. I'm against that. I think it's wrong," she said.

Meanwhile, Haun is defending his facility, saying the acreage and foliage make it MORE THAN A FAIR CHASE for the animals. Plus, he points out he will also CATER to young hunters and people whose DISABILITIES may prevent them from hunting elsewhere.

"They just don't understand, they don't understand," Haun said of his critics. "They think it's up here behind a big, high fence, the animals have NOWHERE to go. As you can see, there's PLENTY of places for animals to HIDE that we CANNOT access."

Clinch Mountain Hunting Adventures is set to open in September. The prices range between $600 and $10,000.