Nov. 21, 2013
Here’s the Great Falls Tribune article in its entirety:
Written by John S. Adams
Tribune Capital Bureau
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201311200500/NEWS01/311200023
HELENA – Layne Spence went out into the woods west of Missoula on a Sunday afternoon to do what he loves to do best: recreate in Montana’s outdoors with his three beloved malamutes.
Spence, an avid outdoorsman, drove to the Lolo National Forest’s Lee Creek campground, an area the agency touts on its website for its “winter recreation opportunities such as cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.”
The area also is popular with hunters and trappers.
Spence parked his truck, turned on his dogs’ lighted collars, clipped into his cross-country skis and set off down the snow-covered forest road.
Within minutes of starting out on his trek with his dogs Rex, Frank and Little Dave, Spence said he heard a gunshot from up ahead. Spence said he looked up from road just as Little Dave’s hind leg was struck by a bullet. Spence said a man, dressed mostly in camouflage, was standing on the road approximately 30 yards ahead of him and was aiming a semiautomatic assault rifle in his direction.
Merriam-Webster defines an assault rifle as “any of various automatic or semiautomatic rifles with large capacity magazines designed for military use.”
“I started screaming at the top of my lungs, ‘No! No! Stop! Stop! You’re shooting my dog!,” Spence recalled, his voice still hoarse from yelling three days after the alleged incident.
Spence, a licensed emergency medical responder, said even though his dog was gravely wounded, he thought he had a chance to save him after the first shot. Even with a missing leg, Little Dave could live a full and happy life, Spence said later.
“I started running toward Little Dave, screaming the whole time and then I heard this ‘tat, tat, tat’ five or six more times,” Spence said. “Then Little Dave’s head just tilted over and he was dead.”
As Spence huddled over the body of his dead pet, the unidentified shooter approached him and told Spence he thought the dog was a wolf. According to Spence, the man asked if there was anything he could do. Spence he was distraught and screamed at the man to leave him alone.
“I was sitting there screaming, I was covered in blood, and I was trying to find my dog’s leg,” Spence recalled.
Spence said any responsible wolf hunter should have known his domestic dogs aren’t wolves. Spence said Little Dave bears a resemblance to the Ewok characters from the “Star Wars” films.
Local law enforcement authorities, state wildlife officials and U.S. Forest Service officials announced Tuesday that they spoke to the hunter involved in the incident.
According to a joint statement issued by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, the hunter broke no criminal or wildlife laws in the incident. Authorities said they are withholding the man’s name for his own safety.
“Based on the statements provided by both parties, it was determined that there was no malicious or purposeful intent to cause harm or injury to a domesticated animal on behalf of the hunter,” the statement read. “The Missoula County Attorney’s Office concurs with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office that the facts of the incident do not fit the elements of any criminal statutes contained in Montana law …”
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the circumstances do not “constitute any egregious violation of Montana hunting regulations.”
“The incident was not enforceable by their agency because it involved a domesticated animal, rather than a game animal,” the statement read.
Debate ignites
Although authorities say no laws were broken, widespread news of the incident has outraged many outdoor enthusiasts and sparked debate over who is responsible for the safety of the nonhunting public and their pets on public lands during open hunting seasons.
Wolf hunting and trapping is legal in Montana, and so far 85 wolves have been killed during Montana’s 2013-2014 hunting and trapping season.
Hunters can hunt wolves with guns from Sept. 15 to March 15, and trapping runs from Dec. 15 to Feb. 28. Wolf hunters are only required to wear “hunter orange” during the five-week general rifle season. After Dec. 1, they can hunt until mid-March without wearing orange.
Matthew Koehler, executive director of the Missoula-based WildWest Institute, said as an environmentalist and a big-game hunter, he is deeply troubled by the reported actions of the hunter who allegedly shot Spence’s dog.
Koehler said state wildlife and law enforcement officials appear to be applying a different set of rules for wolf hunters than other big-game hunters.
“The first rule for any ethical hunter is to know your target,” Koehler said. “If FWP or law enforcement found out a hunter mistakenly shot a bull elk when the regulations only allowed the taking of antlerless elk, they would fine the hunter and perhaps even take away his license. It blows me away that in this case, authorities are apparently saying it’s OK for wolf hunters to shoot people’s pets on public lands and there are no consequences for those actions.”
Jerry Black is an anti-wolf hunting advocate who said Montana’s liberal wolf hunting laws put unreasonable onus on unarmed citizens to protect themselves and their pets from injury or death while recreating on public lands.
“What’s screwed up is this tragic incident shows that we as citizens out walking with our dogs, or out there hiking, fishing or skiing on public lands, it’s now our responsibility to not get shot,” Black said. “For six months out of the year, we’re under siege by wolf hunters who say it’s our responsibility to wear blaze orange.”
Changes coming?
Spence said he believes the man who shot Little Dave should lose his hunting privileges and have his guns taken away.
Spence said the hunter violated hunting regulations, including shooting from a public roadway.
According to the 2013-2014 Montana wolf-hunting regulations, “it is illegal for anyone to hunt or attempt to hunt any wolf from, on or across any public highway or the shoulder, berm, barrow pit or right-of-way of any public highway …”
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to the guy. I just want an apology,” Spence said. “He has to be held accountable. I’m lucky to be alive. He was shooting right at me.”
Spence said he believes there needs to be stiff penalties on the books for hunters who endanger nonhunters or their pets through irresponsible actions. He said he hopes if anything good comes from the death of Little Dave, it will prevent future incidents like this from occurring.
“It could have happened to anyone. I could have had a child out there with me,” Spence said. “People need to be aware. I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.”
One state lawmaker is already talking about taking action in the 2015 Legislature.
Rep. Ellie Boldman Hill, D-Missoula, said on her Facebook page that she is considering proposing legislation making what happened on Sunday a crime. Hill is up for re-election in 2014.
Spence said he’s not opposed to hunting and has hunted in the past. However, Spence said he believes the use of a semiautomatic rifles should not be allowed for hunting.
Semiautomatic rifles are legal in Montana and no special permit is required to own them or hunt with them.
“Everybody has their Second Amendment right to bear arms, but irresponsibility and those kinds of weapons that allow you to fire off a bunch of rounds with a few quick squeezes of the trigger should be banned,” Spence said. “Assault weapons are not hunting rifles.”
Exposing the Big Game 
I admit, I do not understand how a responsible, ethical person who pursues hunting can in any way justify the use (or need) of a semi-automatic firearm. If the purpose of hunting is attaining the satisfaction of having successfully hunted prey and trumped mother nature and provided for yourself and your family food, then how does this fit with the use of a a semi-automatic weapon which gives you such an incredible edge that you might as well just go shopping at the super market while dressed in hunting gear? While I am not in favor of banning all firearms, I am also not in favor of the very lax laws we have surrounding use of such deadly weaponry as semi-automatics. In a split second, a reckless person (such as this) could end up killing another human being who happened to be dressed in brown looking a lot like a bear. What do we do then? Do we tell people to not wear “animal like colors” during hunting season? No. Instead, we need to place the onus of responsibility on the person who assumed the incredible responsibility of wielding the deadly weapon. Is this not reasonable? Why have we gone so off course in common sense?
Note – while I believe it is prudent to wear orange and any other bright color to advertise myself and my family (humans and canines alike) as non-targets, the lack of wearing a color should not permit a person to make such a deadly mistake.
He knew it wasnt a wolf, these Hunters love torturing animals and watching them Suffer
Mark, I agree with you. And I have to say, the dog owner is a better person than me because I’d want that clodhoppers head on a platter. Take my dog’s life. I take yours. Seems fair enough to me.
I fear for this country and the mentality of those who feel the only path to power is taking lives, animal or human.
Perhaps the solution is, for all those non-hunters who like to enjoy nature with their pets, should be fully armed. Had the owner of the dog in this story were carrying his own weapon, he could have shot at that hunter in self-defense. Seems only fair.
I agree but it is all after the fact. My rescue friends have and carry police style side arms. Know how to use them. Rescuing pit bulls is dangerous! So can rescuing abused, neglected sled dogs and wolfdogs. I have been all alone in 2 hairy situations where in one I rescued a GSD/wolfdog, unsocialized,neglected and frightened out of his mind. He was a wonderful dog one he came to live here. We all cry when his name comes up. He died of cancer in 2007. Another rescue I went on was more frightening. I had back up but he stayed in the van because he was not feeling well. I got surrounded by redneck puppymill wolf breeders. I did my best to get out with at least one wolf by pretending to be like them and getting them to relax. Real well armed and wîld-eyed clan led by a musher/trapper who sat at the table and smoked cigarettes while on oxygen. They did business over disposable cellphones. I knew I had gotten in over my head. But I said I needed a young dog to add to my team for freighting firewood up a steep hill. So I was only able to rescue one animal that day, loaded with fleas, as usual… I felt lucky to be alive.
I think it’s a good idea to be armed, perhaps it would save our pets in situations like Mr. Spence’s? But as my story relates, you have to keep your witts about you and get yourself out alive. And any animals, too. I won’t ever go in that kind of a situation without backup again. I’m getting too old for that crap anyway! And my rescue is chuckerblock full now! I still have the white arctic wolf/malamute that I rescued that day. He lives in a large enclosure with his spayed mate. They sleep in the house at night.
Well, folks, be careful out there. I seriously. advise anyone with Malamutes to not live in wolf-hunting states and not anywhere on the front range with wolfdogs. It is not worth the heartache! You can’t fix stupid and you certainly can’t fix psychopaths.
Well said and if I may add a little Forrest Gump: “Stupid is a stupid does.”
Shooting the dog was likely liable in a civil sense of negligence, shooting a dog with a collar and light evidently not making sure of what he was shooting, but no criminal investigation will ensue because of a lack of other witnesses. The Sheriff’s office passed the buck to FWP. FWP passed the buck to the Sheriff. If the shooter cannot tell the difference between a Malamute and a wolf, he should turn in his rifle and go back to his Lazy Boy chair. If he was shooting a canine with a human nearby, was there endangerment and stupidity? There seems to be several ethical hunting violations which would contribute to a civil case argument. In any case there is another Elmer Fudd Nimrod out there, so watch out for yourselves and your pets folks. It is amazing what the hunter and trapper can get away with in states like MT-WY-ID-WI! So few are taking priority over so many in the use of public lands. I know I do not feel safe with my dog on public land where there are Nimrods looking for something to shoot and trappers looking for something to trap. Maybe, like divers and divers’ flags on the water to warn that a diver is beneath could apply to flags warning of hunters in the woods, or traps ahead. Maybe FWP should have hunters pass a picture book test identifying game and wolves from Malamutes, Dachshunds, German Shepherds, jackasses from mule deer, lamas from deer, and people from game. The Missoulian reported (11-21-13) that deputies talked with the shooter and found no malicious intent, and ruled case an unfortunate accident. Some of this responsibility belongs to FWP for having an August to February season on wolves and feeding the wolf jihad frenzy among the Elmer Fudd Nimrods, their need (unscientific and proven) to drive down the wolf population and giving hunters and trappers public land priority for 6 months with such a hunting policy. The need to kill wolves should be within the regular season, limit to fair chase with one wolf per license tag.
I definitely think the shooter should be charged with reckless endangerment.
I suspect that Mr. Elmer Fudd Nimrod hunter had a “snoot full” when he aimed
and fired his semi-automatic assault rifle in the direction of Little Dave and Mr. Spence. He no doubt was having a bad day hunting and was just looking for something to kill. Perhaps he felt that Mr. Spence and his dogs were scaring his prey away. Who knows what this half wit was thinking (or if he was thinking at all). This shooting of a pet is the second one this season that’s been reported on in the local paper.The first one (this past month) pictured a man with a gun standing proudly over what he believed was a dead wolf that he caught “looking at his horses”. The “white wolf” was actually a neutered male dog.
None of us, nor our pets are safe in the woods here in Montana while wolf hunting and wolf hatred are acceptable.Especially, when slope-headed half-witted hunters are packing semi-automatic assault weapons.
Yep, but don’t let that discourage you from going out and asserting your right to quiet enjoyment of the natural lands out there.
” So few are taking priority over so many in the use of public lands. ”
EXACTLY, Roger! And it’s not as if OUR money doesn’t count. They just refuse to acknowledge it’s from non-hunters.
The key words are “Public Lands” as in, the public is supposed to be allowed onto these lands…I was not aware that public lands were for the private use of “hunters” and that all others entered at their own risk…I think it is incredible the number of incompetent fools who are allowed to wander thru public lands with assault style rifles, shoot without even identifying what they are shooting at, all for the joy of killing a living being…If I were to walk down the street where I live, shooting dogs, I guarantee you the sheriff would not claim there was no crime committed…The hunting laws in these states and others are archaic at best…How soon until “hunters” begin trekking thru the suburbs shooting every animal in sight and then claiming it was a wolf?…I loathe trophy hunters, bow hunters, trappers and poachers…I would like to know when ownership of all wildlife was transferred from the citizens of the USA and the world to this tiny minority of thrill killers…Hunt the hunters, stop killing my animals…
Well said. Wow! I wish I could have said this.
You will like this, my husband’s cousin came home from work and found his dog shot in his yard. He had a dog-hater neighbor. So he grabbed a hatchet and went over to the neighbor’s house, who, not seeing the hatchet, bragged about Greg’s beagle not barking at him again because he took care of him, all right! So Greg calmly asked him how he shot the dog. Greg grabbed his shooting hand, pulled out the hatchet, laid the neighbor’s arm on a stump and CHOPPED IT OFF, saying ‘You won’t be killing anymore dogs anytime soon!’
Greg did three years as a guest of the state of Alaska’s correctional system. The man he shot lived but never was able to shoot again!
Now that’s what I’m talking about. Perhaps, a less aggressive method would be to gouge out the eyes of anyone who hunts. Perhaps the man in this story should gouge out the eyes of the nimrod who shot his dog. Eye for Dog instead of eye for an eye.
I agree Tim Moore hit it right on the head trophy hunters,poachers,trappers are far from being a man.I would love to see a trapper stuck in a trap for days waiting for his death.I have no problem with hunters that hunt like men and eat what they hunt.As for trophy hunters how can you call shooting a deer a trophy there was no real challenge.Face a grizzly with a knife and then maybe you would be entitled a trophy animal.Other wise you are just a idiot with a gun .
Well said.
Something needs fixed now…not in 2015.Too much could happen between now and then.//Shared
Reblogged this on Sherlockian's Blog.
A semi-automatic weapon! This man saw another man surrounded by animals. What on earth made the shooter think the man was in the company of wolves. It doesn’t make any sense. He should be prosecuted for this. The whole situation is wrong.
Some people just should not have the right to own guns…. Along with rights come responsibility….. If you cannot exercise your rights in a responsible manner you should loose that right.. Just Sayin’
he knew that it wasn’t` a wolf, he just couldn’t stand that he hadn’t shot something, so he wanted to shoot anything! and yes he should have his hunting privliges revoked and his guns taken away
Yep, and the fact that he was shooting from a public road at someone who was yelling for him to stop should qualify as reckless endangerment at the very least.
Totally agree!
Look, it takes a certain kind of mentality to want, have and use these weapons in the first place. And now these yahoos are out there killing with apparent reckless abandon … with the govt’s blessings since they’re “legal”. We had our best collective opportunity after Sandy Hook, but all the legislators blew their chance and caved, apparently fearful of the ones who carry “weapons”.
Those guy’s are the ones who vote these NRA groomed morons into office. An AR-15 shoots bullets very close in size to the .22 rifle. It’s the silencer and camo clothes that bother me. It’s like this shooter is imagining himself in a real live video game? He blocked out Mr. Spence’s screaming as if he were killing ‘enemy combatants” in a video game, too? There is something wrong with the shooter, I think, more than an itchy trigger finger. Sounds to me like conditing and or drugs/alcohol? Video games are just as addictive as drugs and alcohol and some are extremely desensitizing to violence. There is nothing ethical about them.
Has anyone ever seen the Showtime Series Dexter? Well we need a Dexter for the animals. Dexter could hunt the hunters, chop them up and dump their bodies. No one would ever know. It’s perfect!
I love this idea!!!
Actually, the best thing we can do beside keeping our pets safe at home, is work or stopping wolf hunting and delist the politicians on voting day who refuse to delist wolves to the ESA list, not as ‘experimental’ but fully and permanently! And work to protect the ESA from special interests with deep pockets and demand that no private group gets right to take your or public property by eminent domain or any means of that sort. States rights aside, if states have proven with out a shadow of a doubt that they are unfit to manage wolves or coyotes because they don’t believe in scientific reports from the world’s top wolf biologists, which is clearly the case, USFWS and maybe even higher on the food chain, needs to step in and save the endangered animal family groups intact. It baffles me why USFWS continue to insist on trying to put pairs of endangered wolves right back where they were slaughtered to begin with? There are far more evolved places where wolves of various species/subspecies would have been safer! For example, the hills and mountains of Northern New England. It is not necessary to have the exact wolf subspecies as originally populated the area. Arctic wolves will do just fine in the Presidential Range of NH.
The wolves in the wild in Quebec cross over sometimes anyway. It is harder to mistake an Arctic Wolf for a coyote, which would better ensure their survival. Right now they breed with coyotes and dogs so what is worse, seriously? Pure wolves from Quebec or coy-wolves/wolfdogs in the wild? You don’t have to be a wolf biologist to get that right! And the pure wolves will have a better chance at returning the ecosystem to normal.
Until the rules change to reflect the majority of people’s opinion and not the small minority of special interest groups, if you want to recreate on State and Federal lands, I would advise you to open carry a powerful side arm, know how to use it and if someone is shooting at you or your dogs, shoot back a warning shot. If they continue to fire, they are crazy, kill them. If anyone wants to know how to make your own bullet proof vest or for your dogs, ask me and I will write instructions and send them to Jim. Once we start shooting back, maybe they will learn not to shoot dogs but it sucks that it had to come to this level of insanity!
Hello: Thank you so much for posting this article and helping raise awareness about this issue. I do have to say, however, that I’m disappointed you have edited the article to, apparently, remove the name of the organization I work for (WildWest Institute) and the fact that I hunt deer and elk. For the record, I also was a hard-core vegan/vegetarian for 12 years and have worked on many anti-trapping and anti-predator hunting campaigns.
Anyway, here are some other thoughts to consider:
Wolf rifle ‘hunting’ season in Montana is 6 months long, from Sept 15 to March 15.
Wolf rifle hunters in MT don’t need to wear blaze orange from Dec 1 to March 15. They can; however, use assault weapons, high powered rifles and electronic calls and shoot research wolves as they leave Yellowstone NP.
Yet some of these same wolf hunters are now saying they expect every many woman, child and pet enjoying a hike, or some fishing, or some cross country skiing, or bird watching on public lands for 6 months of the year to wear blaze orange? Those autumn and Christmas family pictures taken at your favorite national forest vista will sure look different in the future, eh?
Q: What rights do non-wolf hunters have to use public lands without having to deal with wolf rifle hunters mistaking them for a wolf and shooting them?
Apparently not much.
Q: Will wolf hunters pay for all these blaze orange vests that all the people and pets are supposed to wear so that the mighty wolf hunter (jacked up on hatred and fear) doesn’t mistake them for a big bad wolf?
Seems reasonable.
Also, apparently it’s not illegal for wolf hunters to shoot people’s pets on public lands, at least according to law enforcement.
Imagine that.
See what I wrote above. The only real answer is to stop wolf hunting/trapping/snaring/hounding to stop nation-wide. Otherwise, we have no longer have a representational government because about 3/4 of people want wolves to survive and repopulate their original habitats where it would be safe for them to do so. We need an aware Supreme Court to rule when it comes to the ESA, if the states do not act in the best interest of endangered and recently endangered animals, put into their care, they should lose the ‘custody’ of those animals, just as the parents of an abused or neglected child lose custody. Wolves are certainly a special case and granting them personhood, such as corporations have personhood would not be unreasonable under this dire situation! The average wolf has the intelligence of about a 4 or 5 year old human child. This also makes them a special animal, along with elephants and whales. They develop group plans involving communication and cooperation, something even humans can’t do, because humans usually put their own self interests ahead of the community. I cracked a joke about if wolves start to evolve human-like thumbs, we are all screwed. I don’t think anybody got the joke? I meant evolutionarily. While we busy ourselves killing each other off over greed or preceived insults, the wolves continue to evolve. I have arthritis, neuropathy and fibromyalgia. I have a service wolfdog that opens kid-safe tylenol bottles, Coke bottles and does other things for me. She enjoys the challenge of the ‘puzzle’. She can even open a door knob! Until these moron wolf killers get the truth or die off, my helper will only be worth the price of her pelt in their minds. To me, she is my hairy daughter. Her children are my hairy grandchildren. If any idiot thinks my service animal is their trophy animal, chances are, they won’t come out of that decision alive! And if anyone thinks Zoey isn’t smart, ask her what she thinks of Sarah Palin. 🙂
Correction: In an above comment, I accidently wrote ‘delist’ wolves. That has been an issue with a cheap touchscreen tablet plus ‘word salad’ when I scroll down through, proofing this, it got unknowingly re-written automatically. I know I checked three times and it was good. This is the third time so it isn’t me doing it. I have a very short list of candidates. Anyways sorry, I was the one, I never would advocate delisting!
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We need to form a collective force against the take over of our public lands by these irresponsible and dangerous sociopaths. Those of us who enjoy hiking, fishing, skiing, watching and photographing wildlife. etc. are in the majority. Hunters and trappers are in the minority. Yet we have to conform to their twisted agenda. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. We should not have to fear for our lives or the lives of our children and pets every time we set foot in our national forests or on other public lands.
Bravo, Joanne!
We can not allow evil to win out. We must be politically active, rather than reactive. After the fact reactions mean a child, a dog, a beloved parent, grandparent, wildlife biologist or photographer has been killed or wounded. Even a wonderful, loved Yellowstone wolf like ‘Rock Star’ and her family killed, the few survivors likely suffering PTSD and Separation Anxiety!
I’d rather no one could carry guns but Park Rangers/Wardens on public park property. Bear Mace will take care of any civilian fears of animal contact with rabid or angry animals. The real predator is and always has been deranged, trigger-happy humans, not the actual probability of a wolf attack. Wolves have ethics! Even while driven mad with mange mites and starving in Winter, due to mange related hair loss, no wolves attacked humans in Yellowstone NP. I know I don’t hike anymore, not because of fear of animals, I have had fearless bear encounters. But it is the irresponsible, trigger happy Elmer, pumped up on video games, cable tv shows and who knows what kind of drugs/alcohol that keeps me out of the parks. The final insanity was the freak who hid in the ladies outhouse, looking up while women used the facilities along the Swift River, near North Conway, NH, that was the final straw for me using park facilities! They caught him. But now a little 14 year old girl is missing from Conway and the state of NH has lost the FBI help they were getting. I pray for her safe return but as each month goes by, the trail goes colder. Right now, it feels like 7 degrees with the wind chill, in the warmest part of the day, here, just across the border in Maine. If she is still alive and around here, I hope her abductor keeps her warm, fed and dry or there is no hope she will make it through this arctic blast! I fear for children and wolves these days! I know Jim said don’t let fear keep you out of parks. It isn’t fear for myself, but fear for my animals and what I would do if someone killed or tried to kill them that keeps me off the trails in parks. Whomever came up with the idea killing a ‘few’ wolves would allow the wolf-haters to ‘blow off steam’ has no understanding of abnormal psychology. Wolf hunting is like giving an arsonist a can of gasoline to blow off his anger! It only can cause matters to get worse. Nothing good, what so ever can come of it!