Letters to the editor

EDITOR: As someone committed to the well-being of Wisconsin’s wildlife, I attended the Wolf Summit last week organized by Wisconsin lawmakers Sen. Tom Tiffany and Rep. Adam Jarchow. It met my expectations as an extremely biased event, but I still was surprised by what I heard.

The farcical “public comment” section of the event was invited testimony only, primarily by members of the organizations sponsoring the event.

I have real sympathy for farmed and companion animals killed by wolves. The images shown of dead sheep were not contrasted by the mangled bodies of dead wolves caught by traps or photos of dogs killed as a result of hounding wolves. Wolf depredations account for less than half a percent of livestock losses.

The dogs killed in the last year have almost exclusively been killed when bear hounding. How many more hunting dogs would be killed if wolves are delisted and hounding of wolves resumes?

States cannot be trusted to manage their own wolf populations as they are beholden to hunting and farm lobbies which would like to see a massive decrease in the wolf population. In fact, the Cattlemen’s Association supports a wolf goal of only 80 wolves statewide.

Most concerning is the current attempt to pass legislation delisting wolves as part of an amendment to SB2012, an unrelated Energy Policy Modernization Act. Those who care about wildlife in Wisconsin need to be vigilant and contact their federal legislators.

Sara Andrews,

Madison

The writer is executive director of the Alliance for Animals and the Environment.

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