It could be somewhere in the woods in South Carolina. Families picnicking with beer, a bucket of chicken, and some potato salad anticipating a good time when a big black bear is led out on a leash and staked in the ground with her back to a fence.

She is foaming at the mouth and popping her jaws, behavior that, according to the Humane Society of the United States website, means she is terrified. She was probably captured as a cub after her mother was shot, and her captors have cut or removed her claws and many of her teeth, leaving her defenseless.

Then come the dogs.

She knows what’s coming because that’s what’s happened to her all her life. Hunting hounds are released and run at the bear from one end of the arena barking furiously. Some of them bite her face and legs. Others jump on her. She backs up on her hind legs, trying vainly to shield her face. In a recent video released by the Humane Society of the United States, during this event held in Spartanburg in April, the assault continues for hours, as almost 300 dogs attack her in quick succession.

The people cheer and clap. They drink more beer and eat more chicken. It is, after all, a picnic.

As long as you’re not the bear.

This spectacle is a bear baiting competition, called a “bear bay” by participants, and today is practiced only in the state of South Carolina. While its proponents say it’s not a blood sport, a lot of animal rights activists disagree. Unfortunately, according to Jay Butfiloski, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, it’s a perfectly legal law on the books.

“The Department of Natural Resources only has power over what the legislature gives us,” Butfiloski said. “While we are authorized to delegate rules and regulations over the state’s natural resources, there is a specific exemption to this practice in the state code that leaves us powerless.”

And powerless they are. According to Section 16–27–80–A of the SC State Code, the way the law reads concerns the use of hunting dogs. It states that there’s a specific exemption in the law for bear baying that is excluded from animal fighting and baiting act.

“It’s not something I would go to, and since we don’t issue permits for them we have no way to regulate or know how often it happens,” Butfiloski said.

The process is pretty cut and dried according to the Associated Press explanation. A tame, usually at least partially de–clawed and defanged bear is staked to the ground with just a few feet to move around. Dogs are released, typically in groups of three. The purpose is to “corner” the bear, causing it to rise on its hind legs, a defensive position called “baying.” Dogs are supposedly reprimanded if they touch the bear, but the in Humane Society of the United States video, the bear was clearly bitten, and at least one dog was swiped by the bear. The dogs are judged by how quickly and efficiently they get the bear to bay (rise up on its hind legs) and how well they maintain their concentration on the bear.

Bear hunting is permitted for just six days a year in the state, and while no admitted bear hunters chose to go on record or returned phone calls for this story, they claim that the practice of letting dogs attack tame bears prepares them for hunting bears in the wild. Of course in the wild, the bears know where to hide and have claws and teeth to defend themselves. And they aren’t tethered. The dogs may not know that part.

SC Representative Leon Howard, District 76, said that he was stunned to find out that the practice was allowed in his state, and it certainly was not representative of South Carolinians.

“I would never have thought anything like that went on anywhere,” the representative said. “There is absolutely no reason for it whatsoever. It’s not training for the dogs, and it’s terribly cruel for the bear.”

Howard said he would support any legislation that will ban the sport and on Monday, after the release of the video showing the bear baiting, State Senator Joel Lourie announced plans to pre–file legislation to ban the practice of bear baying across the state.

“I was appalled by the recent reports in the media detailing this barbaric practice. It needs to be outlawed,” said Lourie, who has been recognized by the Humane Society of the United States for his work to combat animal cruelty. “South Carolina cannot have the distinction of being the only state where you can chain up a bear and sic dogs on it for sport.”

Lourie says that the period to pre–file legislation for the 2011 legislative session will open in December. He will be working with the Department of Natural Resources and the Humane Society of the United States to craft a bill to ban the practice.

While the Humane Society of the United States has the SC DNR phone number on their website to call and complain, spokesperson Butfiloski suggests that opponents of bear baiting would be better heard by contacting their local representatives.

“We can only take names of callers and report that the people are against the events,” he said. “If people contact their local state senators and representatives, their voices are more likely to make a bigger difference.”