MADISON (WKOW) -- A coalition of groups filed a lawsuit in
Dane County court to try to keep dogs out of the state's upcoming wolf hunt
until additional safeguards for dogs are put in place.
Attorney Carl Sinderbrand said a federation of humane
societies and others want training hours to be specified to limit the amount of
animals in wolf territory, and want breed restrictions to limit the wolf hunt to
scent-hounds, instead of sight-wounds. Sinderbrand said sight-hounds would be
more likely to have confrontations with hunted wolves.
Sinderbrand said a number of hunting dogs are already
killed each year in Wisconsin during the bear hunting season.
Thousands of applications for the wolf hunt have already
been received by state officials. This October's hunt will be the first since
wolves were removed from the endangered species list.
Wisconsin is the only state to allow dogs to participate
in the hunt for wolves.
There are some limits in place for hunting dogs in the
upcoming wolf season, including restricting dogs to a certain part of the
season, limiting training to certain months, and allowing no more than six dogs
per hunting party.
The Department of Natural Resources administers the wolf
hunt. Spokesman Bill Cosh declined comment on the request for a court
injunction, citing the pending nature of the lawsuit.
Sinderbrand said rules for the use of dogs during the bear
hunting season were largely applied to wolf hunting, even though bears are
inclined to retreat from trailing dogs up trees, while wolves can confront
tracking dogs over territory, or in protecting their young.
A representative of the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association
told Madison.com wolves typically shy away from contact with dogs, and hunters
use practices to keep their dogs out of harms way.
