by Bob Ferris
“Cartoon” from Save Western Wildlife’s Facebook page
In late December an “event page” on facebook was attacked. The page was celebrating a prayer vigil for wolves that was to be held in Salem, Oregon. And the attackers swooped down electronically the day after the event and filled the page with bloody pictures of wolf kills and fetal deer purported to have been “aborted” by wolves. The action was disturbing and eerily like the protests held by the Westboro Baptist Church, where they show up where they are not wanted and act in the most offensive and inappropriate manner possible.
The Westboro mob is classified as a hate group and rightfully so. They—like the anti-wolf folks—are generally overflowing with unbridled faith, strongly held opinions and self-righteousness and somewhat bereft of relevant education, understanding, or any form of tolerance or compassion. Both groups are classic bigots in that they hold unfounded and yet deep beliefs and will not let facts or reason dissuade them from dishing out broadsides of vitriol towards the object of their scorn whether it be homosexuals, people of color, members of other religions or wolves.
Is Wolf Hatred Gateway Bigotry?
Do I go too far in linking bigotry against wolves with the same attitudes against individuals and sectors of the human population? I don’t think so. Studies have conclusively linked animal abuse to child abuse, domestic violence and even serial killing. The experts assert that these acts are all parts of the same dangerous syndrome. I strongly suspect that bigotry is a related syndrome and behaves the same way. And I have seen enough human-directed bigotry—mainly racial, anti-Semitic and life-style directed—on the facebook pages of these anti-wolf actors and their compatriots to think that, once started, predator bigotry translates quite easily across the wildlife-to-human spectrum.
– See more at: http://www.cascwild.org/identifying-and-dealing-with-the-anti-wolf-forces-pg-13/#sthash.fhfrhp9Z.dpuf
Also see: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1052941
Exposing the Big Game 
You are right to make that connection between animal haters/abusers, you only have to look at the history of ‘cowboys’, and I use the term loosely, who abuse animals in the rodeo business. Most of them have history of family abuse and child abuse, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMl8GutJ2NI&list=PL3DDBF4C594217C03
Reblogged this on Wolf Is My Soul.
Excellent piece. Have sent it to friends. I agree 100%. These connections must be made.
Unfortunately, not too far…Profiling Endangered Species: End Violence in Our Wild Lands!
The Big Bad Wolf
Historically, wolves have been maligned, considered by many to be as evil and dangerous as Al Qaeda: terrorists who are out to get us, our livestock and our animal companions. This is a fallacy, a belief based on myth, ignorance and prejudice that has become an accepted truth—one that justifies the urge to protect ourselves by any means necessary.
The Stand Your Ground Law in Florida made it possible for George Zimmerman to kill an innocent teenager. That law and racial stereotyping permitted a citizen to arm himself and shoot to kill. Trayvon Martin was judged a threat simply because he was a young black man wearing a hoodie, a perception based not on evidence, but solely on Mr. Zimmerman’s prejudice. Likewise, many harbor beliefs about the wolf, based on false assumptions, not on the scientific evidence or the traditional empirical knowledge of the indigenous people of North America.
http://www.paintitblue.org/2013/09/profiling-endangered-species-end-violence-in-our-wild-lands/