Wednesday, September 3, 2014

With State Approval, Another Hunting Dog Thrown To Wolves

Bear hunting is big business in Wisconsin and is heavily promoted by the DNR which gives  bear hunters and related interests policy-making advisory access, too. 

Bear hunters are allowed by the state to let their packs of hounds run freely during a 60-day period in the summer - - even through known wolf activity territories - - to 'train' for the fall and winter bear hunt season.

This practice sets up hound-wolf confrontations, the inevitable killing of hounds by the larger, territorial wolves and the filing of claims with the DNR of up to $2,500 per dog.

As I have noted, some people in Wisconsin go to prison when dogs are killed, and some people get a check. Some animal cruelty is tolerated, other circumstances are condemned. It's all very situational.

The state has paid out a half-million dollars under this only-in-Wisconsin program, and will be making another payment soon, as the DNR reporter over the Labor Day weekend that there has been another such dog killing:
On August 31, Wildlife Services confirmed that wolves killed an 11 year old Plott/Walker bear hound. The attack occurred in the Town of Emery, Price County. More information and a caution area map are available on the gray wolf webpage
Hunters are reminded to use the caution area maps on the DNR website (dnr.wi.gov, keyword "wolf management") to help reduce conflicts during this year's bear dog training and hunting season.
DNR records show 13 such killings this year, with four in Price County where the most recent incident took place. Several Price County dog killings by wolves happened close to each other, to somewhat older dogs and and after DNR-publicized warnings. 

Seems some hunters there are paying only close attention to the dog reimbursement program.

2 comments:

Sue said...

If you lose a hunting dog and get $$ from the state, your name should be out there, available for all to see. Searchable database if possible.
People have the right to know who benefits financially from a decision to pit a dog against a wild animal. I'm sure no one would use the database for anything nasty. After all, it's everyone's right to hunt.

Unknown said...

I live in Britain and keep abreast of the killing activities of your so called hunters through newsfeed like yours but this article has got me wondering if the general public of America actually know that this fraud is going on and it is there money that is been handed over to these cretins who I have no doubt send there older or weaker dogs into situations knowing they are going to be killed, just wonder how much they paid for the dog in the first place