BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- Bolstered by a million-dollar ad campaign that accused Issue 1 proponents of being "animal rights extremists," hunting groups appeared Tuesday to defeat a proposed ban on mourning dove hunting in Ohio.
With 287 of 13,079 precincts reporting statewide, voters were defeating the ballot initiative by 58 percent to 42 percent.
State lawmakers revived the annual dove hunt in 1995, but the grayish-brown birds have enjoyed protected status in Ohio for most of the century.
Save the Doves organizers collected more than twice the 100,000 signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot, but a broadside of TV ads financed by pro-hunting groups may have left many voters wondering what the issue was about.
Ads financed by Ohioans for Wildlife Conservation claimed the proposed ban would threaten children's lives, destroy farms, send food prices skyrocketing and imperil the freedom to hunt and fish.
After Save the Doves complained, an Ohio Elections Commission panel found probable cause that the commercials were misleading. A full hearing is to be held after the election.
Dove hunting opponents argued the birds are shot mostly for target practice, not food -- but state officials and pro-hunting groups said most doves are eaten.
Possibly 50,000 Ohioans hunted the birds this year, according to the state Division of Wildlife.
But voters who gleaned their election news from 30-second TV commercials may have had trouble figuring out that Issue 1 pertained only to mourning doves.
One ad featured actors in pig and monkey costumes attacking a hot dog cart and smashing a window at a research laboratory.
"Don't let the extremists get started," the ad declared. "If your kid's life is on the line, you'll know how important it is to vote "No,' " said another.
None of the ads mentions that Issue 1 is limited to a referendum on the state's 3-year-old mourning-dove hunt.
