Posted on 10/05/2015 11:58:54 AM PDT by SJackson
Gray wolves are killing cattle and family pets in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, and all residents can do is stand by and watch thanks to a federal judge’s ruling.
In December, US District Judge Beryl Howell overturned the Obama administration’s decision to take the gray wolf in the Great Lakes states off the endangered species list, The Detroit Free Press reported. Howell’s action effectively banned hunting and trapping of wolves in those states.
Farmer Miles Kuschel watched a pack of six wolves surround his cattle on Easter, but decided not to shoot because of the ruling. When he came back, a calf was dead.
“They came, they killed and they left, but they’re still around. They just move on to the neighbor’s place,” Kuschel told Watchdog.org.
Others have had similar experiences.
“There was a big gray timber wolf,” Laurie Anderson told Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). “The wolf grabbed Curly by the neck, and headed down toward what we call the West Branch of the Knife River. And I’ve never seen my little dog again.”
Anderson’s poodle, Curly Moe, was one of several dogs carried away by wolves in the region around Duluth in April, MPR reported. The wolf attacked when Anderson and Curly went outside to get the mail.
Howell’s ruling keeps wolves on the endangered species list, which means they only can be killed in defense of human life. That means Anderson and Kuschel could have been prosecuted for a federal crime if they shot the wolves to defend their animals.
Farmers Are Helpless
“You could be watching your pasture and you could see a wolf killing your cattle, which is like watching someone at the ATM taking money out of your bank account, and you can do nothing to stop it,” Charlie Poster, the assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, told Watchdog.org.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service took the gray wolf in the Great Lakes Region (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) off the Endangered Species List three years ago. Animal rights groups and environmentalists appealed, and Howell reversed that decision.
That means farmers and ranchers need to get federal permission to shoot wolves they see killing their cattle. It also effectively ended wolf hunting seasons in the three states and wolf trapping in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It also means that property owners have no way to protect their pets from wolves.
Farmers can get compensation for livestock killed if they take pictures of slaughtered animals and send them to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Unfortunately, that process can take months — and it is getting longer. Poster said his agency is dealing with a back log of claims for compensation for wolf attacks.
Supporters of the judge’s ruling defended the decision.
“The wolves needed to go back under federal protection,” Jill Fitz, the director of the Michigan Humane Society, told The Free Press. “The courts recognized the basis of the delisting was flawed.”
Wildlife officials estimate that there are currently around 2,400 wolves living in 470 packs in Minnesota, and 636 wolves on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. More could be crossing the border from neighboring Ontario. The wolves are getting more aggressive, according to wildlife officials.
“Within the last half a year, we’ve had I would say probably a spike of wolves that are coming in and going after some domestic animals,” Kipp Duncan, a Minnesota conservation officer, told MPR. Duncan knows of at least five dogs that were attacked and eaten by wolves. He knows of at least one case in which a wolf killed a dog chained to a house.
On average, around 100 farm animals and five dogs a year are killed by wolves in Minnesota. Duncan thinks the wolves are getting more aggressive because the population of their favorite food – deer – has decreased.
“I think it’s a function of wolves being hungry and not finding as much food as they normally do in the areas they normally forage in,” John Hart of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Service Program told MPR. “So they’re moving to where the deer are, which happens to be where the people are.”
The poor wolves are just so hungry. I think I would leave a snack out for them nightly. A can of dog food mixed with antifreeze should do it!
It’s time for Congress to define “good behavior” on the part of the judiciary and impeach some judges for rewriting law - and the Constitution - from the bench. How is it that “environmental activists” having no direct personal interest in many “environmental” rulings are given standing in court in the first place? It’s also time Congress wrote them out of having that undeserved, unwarranted privilege.
Good point. At least in WI lots of these attacks occur in national forest or wildlife refuges. Maybe a federal 911, they can send out a drone.
While I don't consider the Mexican greys crossing the border illegals, their status as endangered has been a point raised in opposition to a fence. Guess we can make bridges for the Mexican wolves, no one else will use them.
The operative word being me. I keep my dogs close, if an animal attacks them, they're attacking me, how can you tell the difference.
Before or after they bite. The sad thing, about a quarter of the human attacks are rabid. Given that, wait till they bite. Obamacare covers it.
Borzoi, when hunting they use them in groups. In the past. Imagine the outrage if anyone used dogs to hunt wolves today.
Most of the farm people I knew in Wisconsin, my family and their surrounding communities ate venison pretty much year around....called it wild beef. They would have no problem at all taking out a wolf, or pack of wolves, that were threatening their herds. Trout are delicious year around too.
Difficult, but WI and I suspect most states allow claims. Time consuming, and not the reason you keep livestock
Live in Ct. Last year a rabid fox attacked my daughters father in law when we were in the woods cutting heat. Killed it with chain saw. Messy but he did not go through the shots.
PS Had no time to get to rifle. Crazy rabid fox stalked us.
“Probably won’t be too long before it’s illegal to defend your life with deadly force.”
There’s a big media stink going on in the British press about a couple who were vacationing at the condo in Portugal and defended themselves against a burglar who died in the fight.
Authorities are debating charging the couple with the Euro equivalent of manslaughter.
Agreed; none of which SHOULD be necessary, but how do the feds prosecute YOU if one of your animals kills a wolf?
A range steer can gore or stomp a wolf to death, a horse can stomp a wolf to death, a dog bred to protect livestock can tear a wolf to shreds.
Just nature; red in tooth and claw, no justifiable cause for action unless they want to prosecute the dog.
The dogs defense is “ I was just doing what comes natural, just like the wolves”.
Any pack of shepherding dogs should always be at least 5 to 7 strong for mutual support, mine are. Just costs an arm and leg to feed them all.
chuckle, chuckle.
Sure, sure, people say that buy how do we know the DNR didn’t radio tag that judge?
A male Irish Wolfhound stands at least 32 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs at least 120 pounds. The Irish Wolfhound female is at least 30 inches tall and 105 pounds. Many are larger. Males usually average 34 to 35 inches and 140 to 180 pounds; females 32 to 34 inches and 115 to 140 pounds.
The biggest problem with these guys is that they think they're lapdogs! They can also be quite stubborn, but are still the sweetest, most even tempered things you can imagine.
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