Dead and dying wolves haunt my thoughts. Wolves suffering slow, painful deaths in choking snares or leghold traps, waiting in the cold, without food, water or shelter, for their killers to emerge and stomp, strangle or shoot them to death. Pups who will never have a chance to grow up wild and free, as they watch their families ripped apart, dying along with them.
There is total chaos in the wild places wolves call home. They are suffering unimaginable horrors as their killers slash their way through living flesh, driven by blood lust, posing with their wolf corpses, smiling like Cheshire cats, claiming their prizes in full color. But what they don’t realize is every dead wolf picture, every trapped, snared, gut shot wolf I see only steels my resolve to fight on. Gloating over dead, sad bodies of their victims only makes them look small and insignificant. I wonder how brave they’d be without their scopes, high-powered rifles, snares, traps, blinds, poisons, compound bows and other weapons they use to kill defenseless animals in their sick game? How brave would they be going mano y mano with any wild animal? I think we all know the answer to that question. When the playing field is even there is no contest.
Remember this video:
[youtube-=http://youtu.be/X_yybqlzjWQ]
They think they’ve won and the wolves are now theirs to torture but this war is far from over. We are many and they are few. They can crow now but it won’t always be this way. We will see wolves protected once again. Count on it.
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Photos: Courtesy
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Posted in: Wolf Wars, animal cruelty
Tags: wolf slaughter, killing wolf pups, killing wolf families, evil wolf hunts, torture, sadism
Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
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Louise du Toit
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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 
Beautifully said.I could not watch the videos..and the photos are too haunting for me also. just your words in this post are enough.i am losing faith but keep reminding myself that my falling prey to depression in the wake of this rampant slaughter will do no good for the cause. .we must keep on working and speaking for the wolves,no matter how steep the uphill battle.
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Yes, Dear Nabeki, a change is going to come. More and more of us will understand that the wolves and all of the earth’s wild inhabitants are entitled to live their lives without harrassment and cruelty. And that in saving the wild earth we will be saving ourselves.
I have made contact with some very strong advocates in my state this year and am feeling encouraged. Thank you for always shining the light on what needs to be seen.
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Thank You for sharing your powerful words, Nabeki. They bring tears to my eyes .. beautifully put .. The Wolves are Always in my Prayers
and I know they will prevail.
Bless them All – the Wild Ones!!
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Last night KREM news in Spokane talked with a hunter who was so eager to get into the woods and shoot that he could barely contain himself. He had his big rifle with scope on the interview and was saying how much he longed to come upon a whole pack of wolves, then “bam, bam, bam, bam” he said, pulling the trigger with each “bam.” I’m going to call the station today and demand that they give the other side of the story–that the deer and elk this fool also is longing to kill may not be as scare as he claims and that other causes of death and decline (such as weather and disease) are involved. But that won’t get through to the hunters–all they want to do is kill.
By the way, Idaho is considering allowing all forms of hunting, fishing, trapping, snaring and using live bait in its constitution as a protection of its cultural heritage. This is a reaction to out-of-state groups, such as animal welfare groups, who have tried to outlaw the worst kinds of animal suffering from traps, bows and arrows, snares, and live bait. If the hunter on the news last night is any indicator, that change to the constitution will probably be enacted.
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Idaho is not only reacting to outside pressures–but there are a few decent Idaho residents fighting the brutality of the state. And the state is losing money, because many hunters have joined the state boycott, disgusted at the thrill kill and torture mentality of Butch Otter, Senator Siddoway and Idaho Fish and Game, If you ever wondered what you would have done when Fascism was overtaking Europe and millions were being murdered–act now. We live in such a time and those who do not stand and fight are encouraging this Wolf Holocaust. I fight for wolves every day. Take direct action and fight back. Join partisans who fight for the wild.
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As with the activists fighting the XL pipeline. Prayers are not enough. Action is prayer manifest.
Submitted with respect to all sentient beings!
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Thanks for this great post, Raven.
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KREM
Call to action: phone KREM-email. (Thanks for posting your tip!) Please share below info to all pro-life sites and animal advocacy sites?
Please protest the above mentioned trigger finger dope hunter article but this article on the 18th. http://www.krem.com/news/local/Hunters-say-wolves-hurting-elk-population-in-North-Idaho-174853941.html.
Uh, wolves hurting elk? sound familiar from homo idahois neanderthalis?
KREM
4103 S Regal St,
Spokane, WA 99223 »
Map (509) 448-2000
Contact KREM-2 News
Have a news tip, question, concern, suggestion, or just want to give us your feedback? Feel free to contact us at: General questions — 4103 S. Regal Spokane, WA 99223 Phone: 1-509-448-2000 Fax: 1-509-448-NEWS
And since Spokane boasts ” close to nature” – I ‘d say that the real phrase of truth is “close to killing as much nature as possible: blam blam!
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I live in Spokane and saw that segment. I assumed all the hunters and political conservatives around here would cheer the hunter on. Wrong! This morning I read 44 comments sent to KREM Facebook. Only ONE comment out of 44 was pro-hunter. The rest called the hunters greedy, lazy, hypocritical, selfish, ignorant and cruel. They chacterized the wolves as beautiful and as needed, integral parts of nature. One of the comments came all the way from Perth, Australia.
The anti-wolf hunt group is boycotting Idaho by refusing to by products from there or to go there.
This makes me wonder that if more stations around the country would air information on wolf hatred and wolf hunts (particularly if they would have courage enough to show one or two of those graphic pictures of dead wolves in traps, etc.) then there might be a lot of people who would join the protest, and more wolves would be saved.
I see that Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States has a letter in the Washington Post complaining about the new wolf hatred. One of the first comments goes back to the old lament about the wolves wiping out the elk herds. Maybe we could all go to the Washington Post comments section and give them some REAL information: The elk have not been reduced that much–there are just more people and more hunters. Bad weather and disease kill more animals, including elk and cattle and sheep, than wolves. Also, a recent study has discovered that more farm animals are killed by coyotes, wild dog packs, and other predators than wolves.
Maybe our train might finally leave the station with lots of safe wolves on board!
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That kind of “cultural heritage” is an embarrassment, and anyone I think would be embarrased to stand up publicly and claim that destruction of wildlife and land as their their heritage.
Hunting and fishing might be a cultural heritage, but we have supposedly evolved to the point where we do not need to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering upon fellow animals, or use them as bait. I don’t feel it is anyone’s cultural right to be cruel. Also, there are going to be fewer and fewer wild animals left to satisfy the kind of “cultural heritage” that once was – wolf and coyote eradication, poisoning of prairie dogs and raptors, and the multitudes of humans who also live here now will have a conflict with this, with our needs for clean water and land, and (hopefully green) energy, and of course raising cattle for our ever increasing numbers. Even ancient peoples knew to take only what they needed, and to respect and give thanks for what Nature had given them.
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The wolf hunting group has seen the anti-hunts comments and is now on the offensive with their usual rants/threats. Makes one wish for that circular firing squad.
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My prayer is for all this madness to end and for the remaining wolves to live a life of peace.
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. people who care about animals suffer not only pain but much frustration, because cruelty towards animals is the norm, i am a vegan and thoughts about the suffering and cruelty in the food industry haunt my nights also. only when animals will be considered worthy of moral consideration there will be a stop to it. but you are not alone, many feel like you although that is no confort for the wolves ofcourse
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I agree. Am also a vegan and came to the conclusion years ago that all parts of our lifestyle affect other animals. It seemed more morally consistent to me to be concerned about all animal suffering, not just some. Farmed animals have always been one of my biggest concerns since they undergo some of the greatest suffering and get so little concern, sympathy, or legal protection.
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I have started a fb page “Defenders of Wolves”
This page is a place for all wolf activist to post info, events, rallies, etc.. I always link this blog because it is one the best written and want more people to see this info. Check it out because if we have one place where all of us can share info, our numbers will grow and our voice strengthen.
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please consider a site besides facebook. many ppl don’t fboo anymore due to it being mined by ‘the empire’.
thanks for your efforts, just saying…
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As odd as it may seem for a person that follows this blog,I actually consider myself as a carnivore,I like deer meat,pigeon and stuff like that. I also like hunting but I would never,ever, do it for sport because I respect all the animals and some people just don’t understand that animals have feelings,lives, and intelligence. There is no such thing as a “stupid” animal,they think and remember just like we do. I have a garden and animals come all the time to eat from it. My always kept coming to me and suggested that I used poison or traps and even offered that I could hire him to do it until one day I said that if he ever tried to hurt my animal friends, the next trap I use won’t be for them. and I never saw him like that again.
I know everyone’s heard that violance is never the answer but sadly some people just don’t understand that.
Think about it people,animals were here first and if we don’t stop the slaughters then I fear that something like Tokyo Jungle might happen.
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How can we stand by and let less than 1% of killer Americans destroy our wolves, our wildlife, our wilderness, our public lands. Organize, make allies, demonstrate, take direct action and strike back.
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Earlier this year I wrote a huge essay on why wolves should not be hunted and trapped. This is the last paragraph I wrote before going into the conclusion:
“This list of reasons explaining why wolves should not be hunted will be concluded with what could be considered the most controversial: wolves are sentiment beings. They are capable of having emotions and feeling pain, just like humans. The independent wolf biologist Jay S. Mallonee states in his scientific article “Hunting Wolves in Montana – Where are the Data?” that “when pushed to their physical and psychological limits, [wolves] can also suffer emotional disorders similar to those observed in humans” (Mallonee, 179). In his scientific article “Biological, Conservation, and Ethical Implications of Exploiting and Controlling Wolves,” Gordon mentions in the conclusion that, since wolves are intelligent, sentiment beings, they should be afforded the same respect and protection that other highly sentimental beings, such as primates and cetaceans (whales and dolphins), receive. And wolves have been observed “moaning in apparent misery after the death of pups or a mate” (Grooms, 52). Proponents of wolf hunting will certainly jump onto this last argument as being unscientific and being based on emotion. They will claim that wolf management, and the decisions on hunting them, should only be based on sound science, and nothing else. For the most part, they are right. The management of any species should be based off of sound science; politics and emotions should never be used to determine how a species should be managed. But, contrary to what many may believe, ethics and emotions are not the same thing. Ethics involve deciding on what is morally right and wrong, while emotions are, basically, feelings. Another point that should be mentioned is that science is not completely separate from ethics. For example, humans are not cloned due to it being considered wrong and unethical by many people. And lastly, it should be mentioned that there are scientific reasons to justify not hunting wolves. Although it may be obvious, the other reasons described for not hunting wolves were scientific reasons. It is about time that ethics, along with science, are used to determine if sentiment beings like wolves should be hunted for sport.”
I know that this is irrelevant in regards to wolves, but did you hear that, in Queensland, Australia, farmers are being given permission to shoot and kill flying-foxes? More info here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/cullings-bats-is-now-talk-of-the-town/story-e6frg6n6-1226354352644
Why is it that humans always rely on killing to solve wildlife conflicts? Why can’t we learn to live with wolves and flying-foxes and other creatures, and resolve issues with them non-lethally? I’m so sick and tired of this killing attitude!
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Regard to the flying foxes, Australia has in the past and still does today have a poor record in wildlife management. In-roads have been made with the Dingo and Wedge Tailed eagles and it was the farmers that realised the wrong that they were doing and mostly support them now. Our history has fences lined with Dingos and eagles culled for lamb predation, it was introduced foxes that was the culprit. We now know how valuable these animals are and yes they have killed people and there unfortunately will always be ignorance and fear that will continue to demonise these creatures. We too have bloodthirsty hunters that get there way, it is a worlwide problem of minority ignorance and self interest groups that hurts all our native wildlife all over the world. With the wolves we draw the parralells with our Dingo, hatred and ignorance is no excuse for the stupid and cruel acts that are happening. As an Australian I support good management and comon sense as do most Australians for all widlife no matter its place on the earth. Our voice will be heard here at home and around the world to all these injustice. There are people here that have a voice for the Flying Foxes, we also call them fruit bats, hence the trouble with the farmers, conflict with growing fruit.
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Been posting wolf photos and any info. I find on my Pinterest account.
You may want to do the same.
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Excellent Linda, keep it up!!
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I just talked to Janna at KREM and she said I was not the first caller complaining about the interview……and that she would pass my message on…..I said that they needed to have someone on who told the truth……that it was one sided and wrong…..that they need to have someone on who knows something about real science and what’s really going on…..I said that they needed to have on a hunter who hunts for food who is against killing wolves and that they need to have on a non hunter as 94.5% of the people do not hunt….that they need to tell the truth about the genocide of wolves going on….that biodiversity is necessary – for healthy elk populations, you need healthy wolf populations….that the hunter they interviewed last night is an evil killer working for Satan…..that killing for the sake of killing is against God…..THOU SHALT NOT KILL does not say anything about species…..that the governement is the Nazis and the Wolves are the Jews.
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Very powerful Nikki and I agree completely. We have to stop being nice and speak the truth. Thank you for telling it like it is. Now think if a 1000 people did that, 10,0000, 100,000, 1,000,000. Lets go people, nice doesn’t win points with these people.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Thank you Nabeki. You’re absolutely right. We need to keep on speaking up and speaking out and telling the truth over and over and over …….our words are a snowball at the top of the mountain…..the more people that add their voices, the larger the snowball grows….until finally it comes roaring down the mountain and cannot be avoided/denied because it has accumulated such great mass!
For the Wolves!
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I agree with you Nikki. There is no stewardship left.
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I pray that one day all Wolves will be free to roam, and be protected by the Goverment, and Hunters will be Crying because Wolves will no longer be on their list to Kill!
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Nabekl,
I share the pain, as we all here do. But about the title.
The title says you’re fighting for them. Exactly how is it that you’re fighting for them? Simply with words on this page? Or do you have a plan of action that could work?
I sure would like to hear someone talking actually have a plan of action to save Wolves’ lives that is feasible.
Regards,
David Forjan
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Hey David, Read and study Nabeki’s blog regularly and carefully. Then you will not ask the puzzling question about what she is actually doing to help protect wolves. Nabeki and the others on this site are constantly sharing actions to take right now, in the many states where wolves are being persecuted, tortured and killed. No one in the entire country is DOING more than Nabeki to educate all of us and provide us with specific actions we can take to help protect wolves. And by the way, use your own heart and mind to come up with helpful actions we can take to make a difference for wolves and then share them with us, as Nabeki does constantly. We are all part of this fight and we should all try to contribute in an effective way.
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Dear Bob,
Please all keep in mind that I respect and admire all the warm and caring hearts that visit here.
And I do visit and read often, every time there’s a new posting. My point is this: all of the tactics taken or recommended here are NOT effective. That’s indisputable. So when I see the word “fighting” in a new post, I hoped maybe someone came up with an effective tactic. That is MY goal. To find EFFECTIVE tactics to save Wolves’ lives. I visit many sites that advocate for Wolves to hopefully find effective tactics, and I’ve come up two with myself.
Look at all the writing and actions taken on behalf of Wolves, and then think how many were slaughtered nonetheless. What does that tell you? Like Einstein said, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results”.
Fighting without using effective tactics is not fighting, it’s flailing.
Thanks for listening.
David Forjan
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David, thanks for sharing what everyone knows already, that wolves are still being persecuted and slaughtered. You sound intelligent. Please share with us your specific plan for being effective right now. I believe that our actions are not wasted, that they will eventually make a positive difference for wolves… Not in time to save so many wolves. Please share your specific proposals, that will help protect wolves right now, without delay. We are waiting for someone like you David, who may have all the answers we are missing.
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One more thing David, many of the warm and caring hearts you mentioned have been taking all kinds of actions to stop this slaughter. Many of us are working very hard. We are being heard by many decent Americans, including those in power, but we are also being brushed aside by powerful a-holes who have been handed innocent wolves on a platter, backed by the power of federal and state government supporting the wolf killers and animal abusers. We face brutal enemies who have gamed the system against wolves and against us.
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Bob,
Thanks for your reply and your interest. I’ll answer your question as brief as I can, given this forum. The best and most effective tactic is to use democracy. I figure there are at least 100 million animal lover voters in this country. Just think how many of us love our dogs and cats and birds and horses. And unite all us animal loving voters and use our big majority of votes to demand protection of animals, Wolves in this case. With so many voters, we can influence any politician any where. After all, their number one priority is to get re-elected.
I tried to accomplish it this year. For saving Wolves this year. I spoke with, and tried to convince, the executive directors of the largest animal rights organizations in this country, to all issue an “action” request directed at President Obama. The top 10, by membership, accounting for approximately 25 million members. But these organizations, being run by one person mostly, are too heavily influenced by them, their provincialism, egos, personal desires, their political ties, agendas and so on. So, all of them, except WildEarth Guardians, ignored my repeated pleas.
My next approach is to convince their respective Boards of Directors, doing an end-around the individuals who have their own agendas, one of which is to perpetuate their own organizational reasons for being. Imagine, why would Wayne Pacelle advocate for passing new legislation on behalf of egg-laying chickens, when that legislation calls for only increasing the space for those chickens to 12 inches by 12 inches? The opposite of Humane.
Another tactic, albeit a longer-term tactic, is to start a radio call-in show, for the sole purpose of exposing all the inhumanity to animals, while also exposing all the BS perpetrated by animal abusers, like those who consider Wolves vermin. And convince these people that they are emasculated by society, but take it out on animals.
An even longer-term tactic is to convince the youth in our country to organize into a major third party to offset the two in power, while creating a better future for themselves.
Alot of work indeed. I’ll need to enlist help one day. But when I’m on my deathbed, I want to look back and know I did my best to save animals. Because, as Milan Kundera says:
“Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this regard mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.”
That all others stem from it.
Feel free to contact me, I guess via FB is best, since I can’t leave my email address here. I’m the David Forjan from Brownsville NY.
Be well.
Forjan
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David, YES, you are now offering a real strategy and real solutions. Thank you for that. I like what you put forward very much. It is both smart and wise. Nabeki and I and many others marvel at how divided, weak and useless the large animal and wildlife advocacy groups are in actually protecting wolves. They have screwed up so terribly. They showed weakness and disunity in 2009 and 2010 and much earlier as well, and then the devil Salazar and his devilish schemers saw that weakness and made their moves to harm the meekly defended wolves. We have the numbers and justice on our side, but David, we are stuck with national animal and wildlife groups that do not know how to courageously mobilize and put the pro-wildlife majority to work effectively. That’s why the determined and relentless fight for wolves is being done by folks like Nabeki and other devoted individuals and small groups. You can reach me through my Protect America’s Wolves! petition. Nabeki posted a link to the petition on this blog. Scroll down to see it. Let’s connect.
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Hi David,
I’d like to give you my perspective on how the wolf situation devolved to the level it has. I started this blog in 2009, just a few months after wolves were delisted by the Obama admin. Prior to starting the blog I was an active wolf advocate for many years. I watched the reintroduction unfold, those were hopeful years but it wasn’t long after wolves were reintroduced that the war against them began in earnest. This has been a seventeen year fight and before the reintroduction advocates battled for decades to reintroduce wolves. There has always been a faction in the Northern Rockies that are anti wolf. They existed hundreds of years ago, as they exist today. And they would have stayed in the background, yammering away about elk declines and livestock depredations if Ken Salazar and his boss Obama hadn’t started the ball rolling that brought us to this point.
Wolves were delisted briefly by the Bush admin. in 2008. Then in 2009 our new President, who ran on hope and change, did the unthinkable, he delisted wolves and started this nightmare without end. At the time advocates had relied so heavily on big environmental groups to save wolves through litigation that everyone followed their lead and counted on the courts. Even though Judge Molloy relisted wolves in August of 2010 the anti wolf crowd realized, in a perfect storm of circumstances, that they could do an end round the ESA and attach a wolf rider onto a must pass budget bill. Wolf Warriors, NIWA and other groups banded together and waged an all out campaign to reach out to US Senators who would be voting on the budget/wolf rider. We lobbied these Senators hard, burning up phone lines in Washington but to no avail because the Democrat plan was always to preserve Jon Tester’s Senate seat and hold onto their slim majority in the Senate, wolves be damned.
This blog is all about information. I feel it’s my duty to spread the word to wolf advocates about the dire situation in the Northern Rockies and now the Great Lakes. I’ve spent years and many sleepless nights writing posts to inform advocates. Not only do I run this blog but along with close friends created the fb pages Wolf Warriors, Howling for Justice and Howl Across America, which combined have almost twenty thousand likes. We’ve had many defeats yes but nobody could have imagined how quickly the situation would deteriorate. Everyone now realizes that we have to change direction.
I take issue with your statement, “My point is this: all of the tactics taken or recommended here are NOT effective.”. The problem is not the tactics it’s getting people involved enough to act. Howl Across America was solely created to encourage advocates to organize for wolves in their own hometowns, to hold demonstrations and get active. The problem is many people say they want to do something but when it comes time for action, there is a lack of motivation. Another problem is advocates have relied so heavily on the big groups to save wolves that it’s been a huge eye opener that the large organizations have proven to be so ineffective. The anti wolf crowd has big money behind them, hunting groups, the NRA,the RMEF, the Safari club all the Cattlemen’s Associations. We OTOH have to fight not only the anti wolf crowd but also wolf biologists who advocate for wolf hunts, a MSM that refuses to cover the massacre resulting in almost a total blackout of the slaughter. The story has barely left the Northern Rockies but since Great Lakes wolves were delisted more and more people are getting involved.
I have spent years fighting for wolves and so have many other advocates. Fighting Congress and the USFWS is no easy task. That’s a pretty large mountain to climb but nobody is giving up. We are shifting gears. I’ve been working on a project with other wolf advocates that we believe will make a big difference.
So what you see as ineffective is actually a re-grouping. Wolves are being slaughtered because they’ve been turned over to brutal state management. If you had a better plan to stop the US Congress from voting to delist wolves via budget rider I’d be interested in hearing it. If you had a better plan to stop the USFWS from delisting wolves in Wyoming and the Great Lakes, then I’m all ears. The point I’m trying to make is it’s not so easy when you look at the cold hard facts.
You have great ideas and we welcome them but please don’t dismiss the blood, sweat and tears people have shed for so many years fighting to save wolves.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Thanks for your reply and your historical perspective. I’ve studied the wolf persecution for years now and much of what you say rings true to me.
As for tactics and strategy, remember this: In all of recorded history, and probably before even that, there are only 1 of 2 ways for peoples to prevail. One is to have superior wealth, which yields superior military and media control and legislative control, etc. The other way is to have superior numbers of people. The most recent example is the Arab Spring. We’re fortunate to have democracy here, not a pure one, but it is democracy.
And superior numbers can prevail against superior wealth, especially in our political system. But with the proliferation of websites and animal rights organizations, no one place has enough members to make a difference. LIke I asked HSUS among others to join our campaign, I could also ask you to add your membership to our campaign. But with all the disparate websites, concerned animal lovers are spread far and wide, with no one large enough concentration in any one place. There is no one large concentration of animal loving members to force legislators to protect animals better.
That’s the problem. The proliferation of websites and organizations to protect animals has fractured our overall efforts by diluting each organization’s efforts. And each organization puts their own demands on their memberships, each inundating their members with “take action” alerts, that people simply cannot respond to them all.
But mark my word, without superior numbers of people, huge numbers of people, all acting at least once for the same issue, we animal lovers will not prevail against the rich, powerful, calloused, heartless people in control.
You asking your small membership to take action is admirable, but to those in control, it’s really only like a “fly on the windshield” at 65 mph.
So the lesson here is, unite or concede defeat. That’s the reality whether people see that or not.
Thanks for your interest in my words.
Be well.
I know you want to remain somewhat anonymous, but feel free to contact me directly on FB, David Forjan from Brownsville NY.
see ya
david
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David, you are of course correct, the wolf defender side has been divided and defeated for the time being. If there was a way to unite the unequivating, uncompromising (no compromise with wolf demonization, persecution and slaughter) and humane wolf defenders, that would be a miracle. Some say, believe in miracles. Well, tell us how you propose to unite all or at least a huge majority of wolf, wildlife and animal defenders, to re-list/re-protect wolves back on the Endangered Species List where they belong permanently or at least for the next fifty years or so, or until the wildlife demonizers and liars and animal abusers and killers have at last been thoroughly defeated.
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Bob,
Thanks for the reply. If I had a plan that I thought had high probabilities of being successful, we wouldn’t be talking right now. I’d never have checked Nabeki’s post about fighting for Wolves, and I’d be implementing that plan. That said, my only near-term plan is to contact the Boards of Directors for the animal rights organizations to try and convince them of the need to unite. There are two obstacles to this. One, there are very few that have addresses published for them, they tend to stay on the sidelines. So, I have to google ALOT to hopefully find contact info. Second, they also tend to support their respective Executive Directors’ decisions. That’s why I don’t put high probabilities on this approach.
To get a feel for the magnitude of the challenge, imagine you decided to get 25 million signatures on your petition instead of merely 7,500. Think about that and you’ll see the enormity of the challenge. Regardless though, I want to devote my efforts to a plan that actually has a good chance of success. And in the absence of a viable plan I check other Wolf advocacy sites for new ideas for tactics that do have a good chance of being successful. In which case, I’ll help those people implement their plan.
On another note, I did sign your petition so now you have my email address. Emailing is better suited to continuing this discussion rather than all these posting replies on this server.
Please email me and we’ll continue our brainstorming.
Thanks for all that you all do for Wolves.
Be well.
David Forjan
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David and all, look for my next Take Action email which will be in your email boxes shortly, IF you have signed the Protect America’s Wolves! petition. Nabeki has posted a link to the petition on this blog. Look for it, sign it and leave a pro-wolf comment. After you sign, a copy of the petition, with your name and pro-wolf comments is automatically sent to the White House, your two US Senators and your US Rep. And again, look for the Protect America’s Wolves! Action email in your in-box shortly.
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Bob,
Let us know what you achieve for Wolves with this “take action” alert. But why aim for only 7,500 signatures? You won’t save any Wolf lives from the Big Boys thinking so small.
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David, my goal is to get the Protect America’s Wolves! petition signers to many tens of thousands of folks. 7,500 is not at all the goal. The organization I am doing the petition through, automatically sets a new goal each time the number of signers exceeds the prior goal. If you want to help grow the Protect America’s Wolves! petition signers, then please help grow it by emailing a petition to all your wildlife-loving friends and contacts, posting a link on your Facebook page, tweeting a link to everyone, etc. Try to resist being so quick to criticize the efforts of each of us who are out there fighting for wolves, until you know more of what we are all doing and trying to do.
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By the way David, your quick-to-critique approach is just a tad annoying. Wolves and wolf defenders have enough real enemies to contend with, we don’t need supposed allies who do more criticizing of our efforts, however imperfect they are, rather than taking initiatives that actually help grow the circle of wolf defenders. I am certain that none of our efforts are wasted. We are expanding the circle of wolf and wildlife friends, for now and for the future. In the long term, that will lead to a more durable success in protecting wolves and all native wildlife.
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Bob,
Open your mind and see the possibilities. You just want to believe that your approach will work. Nothing concrete to show that your approach works, just some vague feeling that somehow surely it must have some effect one day maybe. Rather than thinking how to expand your horizons of strategy.
It’s exactly what Einstein calls insanity.
I’m merely trying to get you to think different. Think bigger because that’s what the Wolves need, not some warm cozy feeling we get because we at least did some little thing no matter how ineffective.
By the way, Bob, critiques are one way we learn. So learn from it or not. It’s up to you.
david
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David…what you’re proposing, bringing wolf advocates together, setting aside egos and encouraging people to get out from behind their computers and organize in real time is what we have been working for the last several years but I have to say it’s like herding cats. The big groups especially have their turf and also are not dedicated solely to wolf issues. They are all over the map concerning wolf recovery. Some are OK with the hunts, some would be OK if some nebulus magic number is reached. Then we have the biologists, you will be hard pressed to find a single one that will openly support wolves and denounce the hunts. The only one that comes to mind for me is Jay Mallonee, a Montana wolf biologist who has written extensively about the unscientific way Montana counts wolves. All of that doesn’t even take into account the huge amount of money and political influence that has been thrown at the campaign to delist wolves by the hunting and ranching cabal.
It would be nice if wolf advocates had there own television show that could reach millions of people and articulate the slaughter that’s taking place but we don’t and the MSM has almost completely ignored the killing. But we have other ways to speak out, through blogs like this one, podcasts, radio, billboards, word of mouth, networking, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Several of us have personally worked closely with Earth Island Journal, a very prestigious environmental magazine who have stuck their necks out more than once to write compelling articles on Wolf Wars.
Cry Wolf by James William Gibson (Earth Island Journal)
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/cry_wolf/
Wolf Torture and Execution Continues in the Northern Rockies (Earth Island Journal)
BY JAMES WILLIAM GIBSON – MARCH 28, 2012
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/wolf_torture_and_execution_continues_in_the_northern_rockies/
Bill Gibson has been all over this story. It’s not as if people have been idle.
You are right when you say the grass roots movement is fractured because so many groups are working on the same issue but not pooling resources. That is the key to solving this problem, NUMBERS!! Advocates working together in large numbers to make a difference. How we get there is up for grabs but I support your ideas and any other wolf advocates that think they have the answers. All I’m concerned about are resulta….getting wolves relisted.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Nabeki,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Your words speak volumes. And full of insight. But it is late here, 11:30pm, and I’d rather reply with a clear head tomorrow.
Until then, yes, for the Wolves.
David
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Nabeki, Bob,
Nabeki, I’m sending you this again to your reply in case you didn’t see the other post…
Bob, I’m done with that last conversation, I’ve had my say. You can keep having yours if you want, I’ve got a thick hide at this point in my life.
(And if this whole note won’t fit in one reply, I’ll append what got cut off in a next reply right away.)
I love my morning walks with my Dingo. Yes, she’s an Australian Dingo. We walk several miles every morning thru the forest wilderness. She gets to feel the wildness in her soul, I get some time to think clearly.
And this morning I got an idea for your both for how to multiply your reach with “take action” alerts. Forgive me any grammatical or spelling mistakes, I’m in a rush. I really should be working now. I volunteer my time for The Wolf Conservation Center and WildEarth Guardians. I do research for them to help them both identify potential new sources of funding. Under this name, my real name. And I owe it to the David Forjan in Wisconsin to say that I’m not him. I’m the one in Barton NY, via Brownsville NY.
About that idea. For how you can reach many more people with your action alerts than just your petitioners or members. Combine your petitioners/members with other petition/website owners and their petitioners/members to all address the same action for the alert. Thereby increasing the number of people, by multiples, that you bring to bear on any one issue/task, or animal hater.
There are considerations, so there’s a process that will help. I devised this process over the summer when I was proposing that the top 10 animal rights organizations combine their efforts. Obviously there were concerns that their respective memberships be kept confidential.
Keep in mind that the process to work out with any other groups is only a one-time effort. All future actions taken with them are much easier to implement.
First you must identity the petitions/websites and owners who have similar goals, saving Wolves in our case. There are numerous sites that facilitate petitions, as you may be aware. The biggest is “Care2″ and you can search their site for similar petition goals. Or any that you already know of or come across. If you need any help, let me know.
Contact the owners and find those that also want to increase their effectiveness by multiples for similar issues. Agree on the next action that you both want to take. Agree on the wording; you’ll want to use wording as similar as possible in all communications so that it’s always apparent that it’s one huge effort, rather than a mixture of many smaller efforts. Agree on the same date to send the Alerts and the same date by which to take action. Send all emails and ask all to act by the same date in the same way. Please note, always try to ask people to do only one thing, to take only one action, or as few as possible. Most people will not take multiple actions for the same alert. People generally don’t have much time to do numerous things, not the masses anyway. Plus, many people are answering multiple alerts daily. I probably get a dozen each day.
If the action involves presenting signatures, then there’s the concern about duplicate petitioners, people who’ve signed more than one petition in the mix, or members of multiple websites. For me, I wouldn’t be concerned about it. I’d leave it up to recipient to take the time to even just try to estimate any potential overlap, thereby hitting them with bigger numbers. As long as the petitioner names are not presented alphabetically, then they’ll have a hard time counting the duplicates, if they even have the time to devote to that. If it becomes a big concern to you all, then have a neutral third party, sworn to secrecy, count the number of duplicates. You could use just some clerk in a law firm or accounting firm. I trust accounting firms more, generally.
And if the signatures are presented to the recipient in some hardcopy or digital hardcopy format, then definitely do not present them alphabetically, just list them in the order in which they signed.
And try to present all petitioners/signatures at one time in one delivery. That will also make it clear that it’s one huge effort, rather than the recipient thinking it’s just a few small efforts. To deliver them at one time in one delivery, you may also again need the impartial help of some neutral third party.
Now that history has fractured the potential combined efforts of animal lovers, this approach is like re-combining them into larger groups of voter activists.
Any questions just let me know. If any other details come to me, I’ll write you both.
And Nabeki, I still want to respond to your last note. You’re so thoughtful. I love that in a person. But I won’t get to it until later.
Be well, Nabeki
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David, you have come into this forum that Nabeki created, not you. In a short time, without knowing much about any of our efforts, you have told us how ineffective and basically useless our efforts are, for protecting wolves. After talking like a know it all, you have admitted that nothing you have done or tried to do, has had any positive effect for wolves. Take a break from your non-stop criticism and read what appears here on a regular basis and see the many actions so many of us are actually doing to make a difference for wolves, without surrendering to hopelessness or relentless criticism from those who talk a good game but in reality have no answers and no solutions to protect wolves.
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Bob,
I guess you missed it earlier when I said I visit this site every time there’s a new post.
Obviously neither of us has been successful,’otherwise we’d both be drinking beers right about now. At least I’m pursuing new and better tactics in order to be successful. You keep defending the ineffective status quo. Or please do inform me just how successful these tactics are that you so vigorously defend. Or better yet, use fresh eyes to see.
It’s up to you whether you are objective or not.
Good night.
David
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David, I hope you are not a reporter, because you don’t report things very clearly or accurately. You have misrepresented our efforts, which are many and varied, while offering some ideas that sound good but that you admit have not worked. I’m not quite sure what you are taking about, in defending the status quo, since we are doing many things in various regions and states. You do seem to have strong opinions but I don’t see much knowledge or experience to go with your opinions. You sure do talk a good game though. Talk is cheap.
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Thank you so much Bob for the words of support. I know how hard you work for wolves and so many others who spend sleepless nights trying to save them. We are many and the anti wolf crowd are few but they have big money and backing from hunting and ranching groups, as you well know. But our momentum is building. There are more people involved in wolf advocacy today than at any other time I can remember. The grass roots movement holds the real power to effect change.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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Nabeki,
All of this torture and killing in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and other states is based on inaccurate information about the number of wolves existing in that location. I attended a meeting in March with Montana Fish & Wildlife and they told me that they send a few staff members to specific locations to count footprints to determine the number of wolves in the entire state. Wolves are being massacred based on a GUESS! This is very faulty reasoning and is NOT SCIENTIFIC BASED! The footprints could have been made by the same wolf traveling around, by a wolf that has already been killed, or by a domestic dog with a similar print.
If the states allow trapping, poison, electronic calling, baiting, and even aerial shooting, they will never reach the quota of wolves that they plan to kill because those wolves do not exist. Hunters will be killing the last of our wolves and then will go after our bears (as was done in Alaska 2008-2910).
Other states actually know how many wolf packs they have and they give the packs numbers or names. Unfortunately, the northwestern states will not make this effort to GUARANTEE that we still have a sustainable number of wolves.
Toni A. Stark
Truth About Wolves
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We must stop all of the hunting, trapping and poisoning of our very precoius wolves and wild life.
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Write , email, call your senators and govenors and let them know your not voting for them if this slaughter is not stopped.
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Commander Nabeki,
First of all, let me make a formal Hello” and Bow to you. It is extremely hard being the flag carrier and spirit guide for so many and being the wolf saviour. Next let me thank you for all you have done. I was an animal right activist for 27 years now, also written thousands of petitions, launched a popular website, work in a animal hospital, just resigned from an animal biologist job. I have stepped out of the public view quite a few years ago because I also was a “flag carrier”. It’s hard walking around with that target. You, and a few others have started a wonderful awareness to get the wolves saved. I was in Alaska when they were being shot down with helicopters. It hasn’t stopped since then. Now the wolves are getting killed across the world, not just in North America. I stepped back into the public because of you and Howling for Wolves and The Wolf Army. To get me and my friends back on the front lines was not an easy thing. So, yes, you and so many are making waves, I post lots of wolf news, I follow your postings, My friends are on here, we follow you on fb and I have followers. We will win this war. Maybe not this year, But we WILL win it! Stay strong everyone, stick together, Hands across the world, lets save some wolves 🙂
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Sierra… Beautiful.
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Thank you Sierra, you can’t imagine how much your words lifted my spirits.
For the wolves, For the wild ones,
Nabeki
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I can’t stand the thought of wolves being killed in traps and snares and suffering painful deaths or to have them poisoned is so cruel and inhumane! then I see posts of guys with 5 or 6 dead wolves, how can that be legal! There is spose to be only one wolf tag per person and at the rate they are killing wolves they are going to be exterminated! It’s sickening! How can they call theirselves sportmen when they stand there smiling at a wolf that is caught in a trap or mutilated in a snare! They have no respect for the animals life at all and no empathy for the animals suffering an pain. These kind of hunters are subhuman!! It haunts me also and I hope there is a stop put to this insanity!! For the Wolves and All Wildlife. Brenda
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