After a rare Senate rejection, Russia's State Duma passes revised (watered-down) legislation on ‘baiting stations’ used to train hunting dogs

Last December, the upper house of Russia’s parliament did something it almost never does: it rejected a law passed by the lower house. The Federation Council voted down a law that would have banned “baiting stations” used in the training of hunting dogs, arguing that the State Duma’s restrictions would have made it impossible to train these animals, ruining the country’s big-game hunting industry.

On February 14, after weeks of negotiations with a Federation Council committee, the Duma passed a new version, water-downed version of the initiative, which Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has personally spearheaded from the start. The new draft would only require a barrier between the dogs in training and a chained animal (often a bear or boar) if the chained animal’s movements are significantly restricted.