New Jersey Bears On The Prowl. Authorities Care More About Bears

A black bear near Swartswood Lake tore into a rabbit pen and killed two rabbits and one is missing. Twin brothers, Logan and Garrett Bennett, were raising them for a 4-H project and their Dad, a builder by trade, had constructed what he thought to be a bear-proof hutch that required three men to move. He was wrong.

What’s interesting about this story is this. The father, Tom Bennett, said that living where he does he accepts that he has to put up with bears. He’ll work on a different plan should they decide to raise rabbits again. He also said he wasn’t a hunter but supported a season in order to “be some sort of check”.

Most people understand about living with bears but to what extend should people be forced by the state to tolerate this? The state of New Jersey refuses to institute a bear hunt to keep populations in check which in turn would help to reduce human/bear encounters. The state also seems to refuse to accept any kind of responsibility for this management, denying there’s a bear problem.

Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection, lead department for fish and game, told Bennett he “would need to either get an electric fence or not have rabbits”. Which prompts the question, why should these boys and their Dad be forced by the state to give up the notion of raising rabbits for 4-H when a solution to the problem exists and is easily implemented? The state is irresponsible and should be held liable and accountable for loss of rights and damage to property.

Tom Remington