PHOENIX— The Arizona Game and Fish Commission denied a petition today from conservation groups seeking to prohibit the use of dog packs to hunt mountain lions, bears and other wildlife. The vote came despite dog packs’ widespread unlawful harassment of endangered jaguars and ocelots in Arizona.​

“Arizonans love jaguars and ocelots, and the commission’s refusal to protect these endangered animals shows it’s wildly out of touch,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Commissioners could’ve aligned state rules with ethical hunting standards and the Endangered Species Act but instead they chose to allow this harmful practice to continue. We’ll keep fighting for these commonsense protections for Arizona’s endangered wildlife.”

The petition, filed by the Center and other environmental organizations, showed that jaguars and ocelots were unlawfully harassed and displaced by hound hunting. At least five jaguars in the region have been harassed by dog hunting packs, leading them to abandon their habitat.

On Feb. 10 Commissioner James Goughnour publicly supported a bill that would have made the petition moot.

“The commissioner abdicated his responsibility to protect Arizona wildlife by supporting this bill, which would've wiped out the commission’s authority and killed public input,” said McSpadden. “It’s infuriating that the commission is putting hunters over science, endangered species conservation and public trust.”

The proposed changes would restrict the use of dogs in recreational hunts for large mammals. They would not prevent using dogs for bird hunting or managing depredation through permitted hunts, preserving Arizona’s wildlife management and traditional hunting practices.