Mercenaries Paid $55,000 to kill Just One Washington Wolf

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For those who were not quite fuming mad enough to be considered wrathful when the wolves of Washington’s Wedge pack were senselessly murdered, perhaps news that the state Fish and Wildlife Department spent nearly $77,000 to kill the seven pack members should push you over the edge.

According to a newly released report, it cost taxpayers nearly $55,000 to kill just one wolf in a 39-day ground hunt. It seems to me the state is overpaying their anti-wolf mercenaries when there are hunters in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Michagin who would have gladly done the job for free just for the bragging rights. Tens of thousands of hunters in those states are paying good money for the chance to kill a wolf.

The other six wolves were killed in a four-day period in September using a helicopter and a marksman that cost $22,000. Surely these kind of costs can’t be justified, even by those who view cows only as commodities and wolves as mere pests.

Washington State Senator Kevin Ranker has criticized the decision to kill the Wedge pack and is planning a legislative hearing next year. It might be a good time to ask the state how much they’re willing to spend to keep welfare ranchers in business. And how many wolves will have to die before the grazing of cattle on our National Forests is finally a thing of the past?

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2012. All Rights Reserved

14 thoughts on “Mercenaries Paid $55,000 to kill Just One Washington Wolf”

  3. a tiny “ray” of hope…a decent politician speaks out against the coyote “contest”
    gail

    Coyote Contest Banned From State Trust Land

    By ABQnews Staffon Thu, Nov 15, 2012
    POSTED AT: 3:43 pm
    State Land Commissioner Ray Powell has waded into the controversy over a coyote-killing contest , saying anyone going onto state trust land to kill coyotes this weekend would be considered “in trespass.”

    “The participants in this commercial and unregulated exploitation of wildlife do not have a permit or lease to be on State Trust Lands,” Powell said in a prepared statement.

    Gunhawk firearms store in Los Lunas is sponsoring the contest. The winner, whoever bags the most coyotes, will receive either a Browning Maxus 12-gauge shotgun or two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles.

    The contest has prompted outcries locally and nationally.

    Powell called for outlawing activities like the contest.

    According to the statement: “When our native predators or wild domestic dogs kill our agricultural and companion animals, the specific offending animal needs to be removed in a prompt and humane way. The non-specific, indiscriminant (sic) killing methods, used in this commercial and unrestricted coyote killing contest are not about hunting or sound land management. These contests are about personal profit, animal cruelty, and the severe disruption of the delicate balance of this desert ecosystem … It is time to outlaw this highly destructive activity.”

    Reply ↓

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