WI wolf 'hunt' means chase-dogs, leg traps, then gunshots

You will reading more and more about pressure by politicians like the perpetually-campaigning Scott Walker to again legalize gray wolf killing in Wisconsin.

Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

But read past the sugar-coating terms like Walker's wolf population "thinning," or talk about wolf "management" and "dispatch" and "harvest" for the true facts:

Wisconsin is the only state in the country that allowed the use of hounds in this 'sport' to chase down wolves.

And most of the wolves killed during the recent 2012-2014 Wisconsin seasons prior to the institution of the federal ban were caught by trappers using metal foot snares, as this explained in this comprehensive report:

As in previous seasons, most wolves were taken by trappers using foothold traps. This year, about 80% of the wolves have been registered as trapper kills.

Wolves caught in a snare are then to be killed with a gunshot, according to the DNR's published procedures.

And this is just a glimpse of the cruel hunting and 'training' practices Wisconsin enables through licensing.

Wisconsin hunters are also allowed to train their dogs against a variety of living, captive, caged wild animals - - up to caged bears hosted off the ground while hound bark and snap at them. 

In some cases, small animals, like trapped raccoons, are allowed to be put into cages that roll - - so-called "roll cages" - - as part of the dogs' training.

If killing wolves is to be legalized again, let's be honest about what that and the rest of it means.

Final note: Much of Wisconsin's hunting policies, like the only-in-the-US publicly funded reimbursement of $2,500 to bear hounders who let their dogs run into conflict with wolves, can be traced to the politically and financially powerful bear hunting lobby.

Bears are killed by the thousands each year in Wisconsin, DNR data show.