Monday, July 22, 2019

It's bear-chasing, dog-wolf-fighting, get a WI DNR dead-dog-check time again

And so the state-sanctioned blood-letting begins anew. What sport!

Also on tap - - state-mandated, only-in-Wisconsin payments of $2,500 per dog killed in confrontations with wolves.

One of the hounds killed in this state-enabled dog-wolf fighting was a Redbone hound, like this one.

Lena the Redbone Coonhound.jpg

Sponsor a dog fight in your basement or yard, go to jail, as it's animal cruelty in the extreme.

Lose a dog to a wolf which you let run free during bear-hunting season, get a check from the state per the Legislature for $2,500! Talk about a double-standard. 

In Milwaukee,  a man involved in dog-fighting for money got five years in prison.
And the payment system reimbursing hounders for their thoughtlessness in wolf country is an only-in-Wisconsin practice, though for first time in memory some restrictions on hounding have been implemented after widespread condemnation.

The record year for dogs thrown this way to the wolves was 2016. 41 hounds were killed in dog-wolf confrontations that year where the smaller dogs were going to lose to the heavier, pack-hunting wolves just as nature set it up.

That math isn't hard: hounders were eligible that year to collect one $2,500 dog over $100,000 in state funds.

I've been writing about this Wisconsin scandal for more than five years; hound owners including scofflaws, including repeat dead-dog fee collectors, are free to 'train' their dogs for the upcoming bear hunting season by letting the dogs run off-leash through territory the wolves have claimed - - and are often attracted to by bear bait left behind by the hounders.- - while chasing bears up trees and also harassing wolf packs, too.

Or any neighbors who would care to be outside dealing with hounders racing down the roads following their packs of dogs which are outfitted with GPS collars, chasing down wildlife which belongs to all the people as part of the public trust, and which do not belong to any special interest, lobby or thoughtless dog 'trainer.'

What sport!

GOP US Rep. Sean Duffy wanted to remove federal protections against wolf-hunting which is now banned, turning to over to states like Wisconsin which had already shown itself to be a weak regulator by letting quotas slip and allowing some dog-assisted wolf hunting, and if GOP legislators had had their way not long ago, you could go wolf killing any time you chose. Imagine how high those DNR payouts would skyrocket.

From the DNR, and there will be more before the training season ends:
07/07/2019Burnett1 Hunting dog killed (Cur, 6-year old male)Burnett depredation siteBurnett depredation location map [PDF]
07/13/2019Forest1 Hunting dog killed (Redbone, 4-year old male)Forest depredation siteForest depredation location map [PDF]


07/21/2019Forest1 Hunting dog killed (Plott, 7-year old female)Forest depredation siteForest depredation location map [PDF]
07/21/2019Forest1 Hunting dog killed (Walker, 5-year old female)Forest depredation siteForest depredation location map [PDF]

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Very lousy way to so called..hunting? Another way that the DNR..("Damn Near Russia") can collect more funds for what?? This is insane killing and a LOT more than wolves or so are killed..SO MANY poachers are in northern Wisconsin!! WHERE are the well paid..DNR..and wildlife officials to stop this..and at the very least..CATCH some of them..The practice of this lousy hunting with dogs..is also so cruel..How can that be allowed..I hope PETA does something toward this stupid..cruel..and uncalled for practice..and the poor dogs that have to endure this hunt..We are losing enough of our wildlife and I guess no one will be satisfied until we lose everything..and varied wildlife creatures become extinct..I do not like Wisconsin and its hunting practices..The monies via cruel hunting modes must be to pay off some of the big shots in Madison, WI or??? There should be some accounting for all of this..Again..horrible..and not a sport at all..

EL Huntley said...

Just so you know, Bear hounding is actually LEGISLATED in WI, as is wolf slaughter (should wolves be removed from the ESL). The ONLY way to stop either is to change the laws which means it has to go through the GOP-heavy legislative body. WI caters to the killers big time over non-hunters like bird watchers, who bring more money into the coffers than anything else.