Inhumane Humane Society?

The Humane Society is responsible for re-establishing protection of wolves in the Great Lakes Western Region.  This region includes Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota where the wolf population is thriving. The healthy population of wolves in our region is why the US Fish and Wildlife Service decided to let management of the wolf population fall to the State in 2012.  The Humane Society didn’t like this decision and challenged it which has resulted in putting the wolves back on the Endangered Species List.

I have mixed feelings about this decision. In the city of Grand Marais this past fall wolves attacked family pets in broad daylight while these pets were in their yard, sometimes on a leash. These dogs weren’t in the woods, they were let outside to relieve themselves and were snatched up by hungry wolves. Two kids in Josh’s 8th grade class had their dogs attacked by a wolf this fall, one dog was killed the other injured because the kid’s mom chased the wolf down the driveway and the wolf dropped the dog out of it’s mouth.  How many kid’s are in Josh’s class?  Fewer than 50 kids and both of these kids live less than a mile from school.

Our wolf population is large and healthy. So healthy there isn’t enough prey around for the wolves to feed on, they’ve eaten it all and are now seeking human pets. I never feel too sorry for people who live in the middle of the woods and are surprised when a wild animal attacks their family pet but when they live in the city? I don’t know how humane a member of the Humane Society would think this situation is. I wonder if they realize family pets are being attacked and killed in broad daylight sometimes right in front of their owners?

Rules and laws that affect a broad area may not be what is best in this case. Hunting of wolves may not seem humane as wolves are seen as special to many people. But so are deer, bear and other animals that are hunted. I’m not saying the State knows what’s best for managing wildlife but at least they know what the population is and what is happening within the state.

No management? Over management? Humane or Inhumane? I guess we can all have our opinions we just can’t all let our dogs outside without fear of it becoming a meal for a wolf.

Great Lakes wolves ordered returned to endangered list

By John Flesher AP Environmental Writer

Posted:   12/19/2014 03:21:53 PM CST | Updated:   a day ago

 

Isle Royale wolf

A gray wolf is shown on Isle Royale National Park in northern Michigan in this 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Michigan Technological University, John Vucetich) (John Vucetich)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday threw out an Obama administration decision to remove the gray wolf population in the western Great Lakes region from the endangered species list — a decision that will ban further wolf hunting and trapping in three states.

The order affects wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped federal protections from those wolves in 2012 and handed over management to the states.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday the removal was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the federal Endangered Species Act.

Unless overturned, his decision will prohibit further wolf hunting and trapping in the three states, all of which have had at least one hunting season since protections were removed. More than 1,500 Great Lakes wolves have been killed since federal protections were removed, said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. The group filed a lawsuit that prompted Howell’s ruling.

“We are pleased that the court has recognized that the basis for the delisting decision was flawed, and would stop wolf recovery in its tracks,” Lovvorn said.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said the agency would issue a statement shortly. There was no immediate reaction from officials in the three states.

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