Posted on 10/05/2015 11:01:19 AM PDT by SJackson
BOULDER JUNCTION - People often feel like their pets are members of their family.
Teri Winter and Jimmy Dean Van Rossum felt that way about their dog Bella.
Earlier this week, Bella was killed by wolves.
The only thing they found of Bella was blood and fur.
"They didn't even leave a bone, we can't find her collar," says Winter.
On Monday night, Van Rossum let Bella out to go to the bathroom at his home in Boulder Junction.
She never came back.
"She was in her woods, her yard, going to the bathroom," Winter says.
That's when wolves got Bella.
Four pet dogs have been killed by wolves in Wisconsin in 2015.
Many other hunting dogs have been killed as well.
Wolves were returned to the federal endangered species list earlier this year.
That leaves some pet owners frustrated.
"A wolf is going to attack my other dog and I can't shoot it? And I'm going to go to jail for it? Put me in jail," Van Rossum said.
"My dog was totally innocent and was brutally killed for no reason," Winter says.
For now, Winter and Van Rossum will remember how much they loved their dog.
"She was a rescue dog, and she was a mutt, and she was great, and she was a family dog, and she was a lover," says Winter.
In my area of North Carolina the game wardens have said shoot coyotes on site. They feel the same way about Poachers who have threatened me
I always go out with my dogs, even though it’s a fenced yard and they’re Dobermanns.
Ain’t no dang wild critters gonna hurt my babies.
Well said.
Those valued game wardens of which you speak have done such a bang up job here in Montana that many areas where I used to hunt elk are now closed to elk hunting or on a lottery basis only, odds of a draw very low.
But our wolf numbers are growing exponentially.
Those don’t sound like game wardens at all-more like sheriff deputies gone wild-the only time a game warden here would have a reason to bust someone-other than for poaching- would be if they were doing or selling drugs in a public park, and they do bust people for BWI on the lakes and rivers-and they fine-but do not arrest-people fishing/hunting without a license.
Night hunting is not allowed except for wild hogs-and then only if the landowner gives you permission. There is not a lot of fed land-thankfully-unless you live on 15 acres or more, hunting is usually by agreement between you and another landowner.
Our park rangers are also “real” outdoors people-they have the same educational requirements as game wardens and do a lot of the same things, except they are based in parks.
A huge part of a game warden’s job is to prevent poaching and arrest poachers, and that is fine-I don’t know anyone who does not hate poachers-some years ago, one shot at my uncle when caught trespassing and hunting deer on our family ranch.
If game wardens don’t do it, who counts the game for the next seasons’ tag allowance, keeps track of the health of herds and such? Doesn’t anyone have to have an education in some animal science to manage game and do hunting and wildlife conservation workshops, etc? Pardon my saying so, but it does not seem logical to have game wardens that aren’t outdoorsmen and don’t have any knowledge of game and other wild animals or the proper management of them. The whole system in those places sounds screwed up...
Thank you!
“education in some animal science”
Not here. they are Law Enforcement. I have known a few, and know one that quit in his first year. That guy is the worst poacher I have ever come across.
A poacher did shoot and kill one of my horses one night. I have no need for poachers either.
Is that on fed land? Hunting here is on your own property, or property you use or lease by agreement with the owner. I’m not surprised to hear that the govt even f***s up hunting-it is what they do to everything else they get their incompetent hands on...
Is that on fed land? Hunting here is on your own property, or property you use or lease by agreement with the owner. I’m not surprised to hear that the govt even f***s up hunting-it is what they do to everything else they get their incompetent hands on...
That is insane-that is not a game warden here.
Poachers have been wounded and even shot dead for trespassing and no charges are ever filed on the person living on that land-everyone hates those bastards.
My brother just bought a ranch in Tx. Sounds like he is making the right move.
I’m sure he will be happy-the fact that we can actually be left alone in our rural areas is worth a great deal...
Both fed and private land, our hunting districts encompass both. My land was elk calving land for centuries, but now wolf packs wake me up and the elk herds are long gone.
That sounds like really bad wildlife management-from what I’ve seen and heard if there is an imbalance in the predator/prey numbers, there can’t be any long term sustainability in either one-if there are too many wolves, there needs to be a season on them, too-there is a season on just about everything else.
Put me on your ping list please,.
I live out back behind nowhere, and these articles and news stories are of great interest to me.
Could be; or maybe a Kangal, they are pretty closely related
Try California; most of the game wardens we have out here wouldn’t know a Chukar from a black bear.
Very sad for the family to lose a beloved companion in such a brutal way.
Good advice. I live in the Texas Hill Country now- got out of Austin- and I always go outside with my three little dogs.
Vid: http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/little-bulldog-chases-family-bears-away-home/nnt2j/
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