Raccoons could be used to train dogs under House bill

At the end of a long week, the Georgia House gave overwhelming support to a bill that would allow live raccoons to be used to train hunting dogs.

House Bill 423, by Rep. Stephen Allison, R-Blairsville, would make it legal to use a captured raccoon in field trials, which are competitions between hunting dogs. It passed 162-1.

Allison’s bill says the captured raccoon would be placed into a protective cage and placed somewhere in a field or in a tree. The dogs would then compete to see which can find it quickest.

Allison’s colleague’s playfully ribbed him about the bill.

"Does this bill allow hunting of raccoons over bait?" Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, asked, referring to past bills that allowed hunters to put down bait for deer.

No, it does not, Allison said.

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