I’ve had a hunting license for 50 years and engaged in both mounted foxhunting and hunting of other quarry with guns and dogs, but I am appalled by this abusive practice. We don’t allow deer hunters to pen up deer and run them with dogs. We don’t pen up bears and set dogs on them. Bird-hunting preserves use farm-raised birds.

The mere idea of hunting a confined animal offends the conscience, but the staggering numbers involved make commercial fox penning a grotesque perversion of hunting. I estimate, conservatively, that one pen operator took in more than $330,000 last year.

Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, who has tried for years to phase out penning, is surprisingly close this session with the progress of SB42. Fearful that the abusive practices of some operators will lead to the shutdown of all pens, the Virginia Foxhound Training Preserve Owners Association is urging members to follow “best management practices” and has signaled a willingness to compromise on SB42.

Here are the real issues: