(NPR Photo)
The Idaho Senate is poised for a vote on S1305, the “Live Bait, Kill Wolves Bill”. Please continue to sign the petition and contact the Idaho Senators. If it passes out of the Senate it will go to the House for a vote and then on to Governor Otter’s desk, which I have no doubt he will sign.
We need an extra push today for signatures to reach 5000 and urge Idaho Senators to vote no on this very bad, cruel bill. Wolves are already dying by the hundreds in the Idaho hunts, 332 dead as of today!!
Idaho: No Animals Used as Live Bait
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Idaho Senators
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From the Humane Society of the United States
Idaho: Stop the Use of Dogs as Live Wolf Bait
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THEIR PETITION
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Live Bait Okay to Kill Idaho Wolves
by Megan Drake
February 24, 20129:00 pm
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/live-bait-okay-to-kill-idaho-wolves.html#ixzz1niDlidbB
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Photo: Courtesy NPR Kristine Lokken Nilsen For the Northwest News Network
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Idaho wolves, Action Alert
Tags: defeat S1305, Live Bait, Kill Wolves Bill, Idaho wolves, wolf persecution, animal cruelty, aerial gunning wolves, HSUS, Care2
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
Howling For Justice 
Reblogged this on dreamwolfspirit.
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Kill the bill. Stop Idaho animal cruelty.
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I’ve signed the petition and have written a letter to each legislator. this wolf hunt is terrible on its own – add in the inhumanity of ‘live bait’ just waiting in absolute terror and the whole thing becomes a mighty testament to how bloodthirsty ‘man’ can be. and they call wolves barbaric and cruel!
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Can anyone tell me if only people from Idaho should contact members of the senate? I know that officials may not pay any attention to out-of-state calls or mail regarding bills.
The whole wolf hunting complex has hit a new low, even for Idaho.
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Marcia…I agree with Dianne, contact them if you live out of state, they’ll either listen or not. It can’t hurt.
N.
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signed of course to help them!
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It has been my experience that as many people as possible should contact Idaho senators as they will know just how many people are against their actions and it could prove worth the effort.
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Hello everyone
I sent this letter to the 27 Idaho senators tonight. Next I will send versions thereof to the House Reps and Gov Otter, as may be needed….
Please feel free to use versions of this letter to fight this fight if you like.
Thank you all for your efforts for the wolves.
Dear Senator:
I am writing to request that you STRIKE DOWN proposed bill S1305. S1305 relates to the use of so-called “advanced” practices for hunting and killing wolves in the state of Idaho. I am advised that this bill pertains only to ranchers who have official verified wolf kills or losses. The claim is that these individuals require additional tools to protect their livestock.
Please consider, numerous examples exist where non-lethal means of protecting livestock are highly successful. These means cost fractions and are both morally and ethically sound. By contrast, the proposed use of live bait, night scopes, and the like proposed in S1305 are unnecessary, cruel and inhumane. S1305 is intolerable in the context of an extensive (10 month) hunting season during which wolves are being killed by nearly any means already.
Also, please take time to learn at least a few basic facts about wolves, their behavior, and their value to the environment, before contributing further than Idaho already has towards their permanent demise.
Fact: The presence of wolves will cause elk and other natural food sources to relocate. Wolves then may prey upon herds closer to human populations, but will cull those herds of weaker or more vulnerable animals. However, if this food supply becomes too risky, wolves move on. The proper application of flags, night riders, guard dogs, and similar deterrents chases the wolves back into the wilderness, where they will survive on mice, rabbits, even fish, where necessary.
Fact: Wolves often are injured or killed during hunts of large prey and will only do so when necessary to their survival. Younger wolves learn to hunt by watching and, as they grow older (3 years old or so) by participating in hunts with their elders.
Fact: Wolves do NOT hunt for sport. Senator Siddoway claims that a single wolf pack killed 78 animals in one attack. This is preposterous nonsense! Hunting is serious business for a pack, only experienced wolves are successful, they do not risk their lives for the fun of it. Wolves only hunt when necessary and they only kill what they can eat or cache for later – one animal at a time. They do not engage in mass slaughter and leave meat to rot.
Fact: Wolves adjust the number of pups born to the size of the food supply. A single kill typically lasts a wolf pack two weeks and numerous other birds and animals survive on the leftovers.
Fact: S1305 pertains to ranchers and hunters who will lure a wolf with a live animal then shoot it before it can reach that animal. If this technique is needed to deter rancher losses, , why does it include hunters? What animals will be used as bait, and how will the Idaho government assure that those animals are not terrified, or otherwise harmed in the process? Senator Siddoway appeals for compassion for poor guard dogs who are no match for wolves but he shows little compassion for the live animal who would be used to lure a wolf.
Fact: Ranchers pay less than a fraction of the cost to raise a hamster per month for grazing privileges on public lands. There are always losses but these losses simply cannot be attributed to wolves. According to USDA Statistical Bureau data wolves are responsible for less than 2% of all livestock deaths due to predation. Far greater loss of cattle is attributable to coyote and feral dogs; and eagles and other raptors carry off far more lambs than wolves kill. Mr. Siddoway further contends that ranchers suffer financial losses to wolves yet he alone received over $900,000.00 in government subsidies!
Fact: So far this year Idaho has killed 326 wolves, 236 shot and 92 trapped or snared – and this total does not include for numerous other wolves poached and other animals killed as innocent casualties. The science is clear. The number of wolves taken in Idaho grossly undermines their genetic diversity, which leads to death from within, and assures their inability to sustain as a species. Irreversible damage is already done yet the hunt continues.
Fact: Idaho lands support over 2 million cattle and hundreds of thousands of sheep. In 2009 only 14 cows and 76 calves were confirmed as being killed by wolves (source – Idaho USDA Wildlife Service Wolf Activity Report).
Supporters of S1305 ask for the bill to pass out of compassion for ranchers and their lost animals. Compassion for ranchers who supplement their government subsidies with canned hunts! Compassion for ranchers who refuse to exert time and resources needed to protect their own animals. Compassion for ranchers who torture downed cows into slaughter houses. Compassion for ranchers who daily send thousands of cows to have their throats slit, bodies slammed and rolled over concrete, be hoisted and hauled upside down by their leg with their lungs spilling out, only to be dumped in scolding water to loosen their skin – all the while kicking and screaming for their lives. Compassion for ranchers who confine infant lambs for the duration of their lives; and whose pigs spend years immobilized in gestation crates. Compassion for ranchers who pump chickens with growth hormones that cause them to burst from within in a matter of days. Compassion for hunters who strangle wolves and other innocent casualties in snares. Compassion for hunters who trap animals that are so terrified as to chew off their own paws or who lay bleeding, staving, and freezing until they either die or are shot.
Senator, I assure you, bill S1305 is NOT about compassion – any more than it is about wolf depredation. Rather S1305 is another way Senator Siddoway can line his pockets with hunters who consider luring and baiting fair chase! It is about further placating a wealthy few, buying votes with wolf blood. S1305 is about misguided, age-old untoward hatred of wolves.
As a Senator, I expect you to represent the public as a whole. I expect you to make informed decisions based on fact and science. I expect you to protect American lands and its resources for all Americans. I expect before you make decisions pertaining to killing wolves you make yourself aware of the numerous ways they protect a natural ecological balance. I expect you to draw the line on the right side of common decency and VOTE DOWN S1305, protecting the public from even further insult and protecting wolves from even greater suffering and slaughter.
Thank you very much.
Donna J. Lentine
Lewes, DE
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From a reliable source,Senator Siddoways’s wolf bill is dead.Nabeki,I just read it on Ralph’s site. Did I read it right or do I need to be pinched?
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I’m willing to breadth a sigh but I continue to watch over my shoulder!
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Fantastic letter Donna! 🙂
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Cannot sign. I’m a member of the HSUS but from Wisconsin. Good luck!
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RESPEITEMOS OS LOBOS E AJUDEMOS A SALVÁ-LOS.SÃO SERES NATURAIS QUE VIVEM EM HARMONIA EM SEU HABITAT.SÃO SEES HARMOSIONOSOS E LINDOS NÃO FAZEM MAL A NINGUÉM SE NÃO SE SENTIREM AMEAÇADOS.
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