This 21-part retrospective series I'd promised will run with daily updates, ending prior to the Nov. 6 election. This is Part 5. There is also a link at the bottom of each installment to the previous day's post.
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Between 2012-2014, the DNR implemented a wolf hunting season enthusiastically promoted by legislators like Republican State Rep. Joel Kleefisch who are in thrall to various well-heeled and politically-active so-called 'sportsmen' lobbies.
Like the deer herd and other Wisconsin wildlife, these animals belong to no person or group, but are part of the state's trust that the DNR is supposed to approach scientifically for all the people of the state.
But Kleefisch and his allies got their way, and the result was a slaughter so ugly - - most wolves were killed with single shots to the head while snared in leg traps - - that a federal judge after the 2014 season re-listed added the grey wolf as a protected species' to rein in poorly-'managed' wolf hunts like Wisconsin's.
Perhaps the DNR's allowing the killing to exceed the so-called 'quotas' set by the agency itself played a role in the feds finally saying, 'enough.'
There remains lingering, bloody legacies in the form of only-in-Wisconsin $2,500 per-hound payments from the DNR to bear hunters who let their dogs run off-leash into fatal encounters with wolves.
Repeat collectors can continue to make new claims, as can documented scofflaws.
And there's continuing pressure to reinstate the wolf hunt, without limits.
Other cruel 'training' practices remain legal in WI, too.
As to Walker:
He's on the record wanting what he called a successful 'harvest' brought back, hiding the brutal realities of leg traps and head shots behind sanitized language.
But let's also remember that Walker was so eager to please this particular part of the hunting bloc that he suggested lowering the already-meager wolf killing permit from $100 to a mere $50 before the shameful business was again outlawed.
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Between 2012-2014, the DNR implemented a wolf hunting season enthusiastically promoted by legislators like Republican State Rep. Joel Kleefisch who are in thrall to various well-heeled and politically-active so-called 'sportsmen' lobbies.
Like the deer herd and other Wisconsin wildlife, these animals belong to no person or group, but are part of the state's trust that the DNR is supposed to approach scientifically for all the people of the state.
But Kleefisch and his allies got their way, and the result was a slaughter so ugly - - most wolves were killed with single shots to the head while snared in leg traps - - that a federal judge after the 2014 season re-listed added the grey wolf as a protected species' to rein in poorly-'managed' wolf hunts like Wisconsin's.
Perhaps the DNR's allowing the killing to exceed the so-called 'quotas' set by the agency itself played a role in the feds finally saying, 'enough.'
There remains lingering, bloody legacies in the form of only-in-Wisconsin $2,500 per-hound payments from the DNR to bear hunters who let their dogs run off-leash into fatal encounters with wolves.
Repeat collectors can continue to make new claims, as can documented scofflaws.
And there's continuing pressure to reinstate the wolf hunt, without limits.
Other cruel 'training' practices remain legal in WI, too.
As to Walker:
He's on the record wanting what he called a successful 'harvest' brought back, hiding the brutal realities of leg traps and head shots behind sanitized language.
But let's also remember that Walker was so eager to please this particular part of the hunting bloc that he suggested lowering the already-meager wolf killing permit from $100 to a mere $50 before the shameful business was again outlawed.
* December 20, 2013:
Wisconsin DNR says 15 of 234 kills were aided by dogs
Those numbers - - 234 total, of which 15 were aided by dogs - - represent wolves registered with the DNR in the current hunting season as of Dec. 19th, the agency said today in response to my email inquiry.
Wisconsin is the only US state to sanction the use of dogs in wolf hunting; a challenge to that part of state law by humane societies is pending in state appellate court.
The current wolf hunting season is ongoing in one NW Wisconsin zone. Dogs were first allowed on Dec. 2.
The allowable kill this season statewide is 251, up from 117 last year.This was Part 4, updated on Wednesday, October 18, 2018.