04-21-2011, 02:15 PM
billb wrote:
61 if you read past headlines...
No, those are reports of dogs killed by wolves. Not actual tallies.
83 dog deaths in the whole of the U.S. were attributed to wolves since 1985.
If you'd read the other news reports on that story, you'd have seen that the dog disappeared while chasing a bear and was found with half his torso ripped away. The wolves were scavenging his corpse. A bear killed him. The hunter blamed the wolves and shot a female.
Whenever a bear, coyote or cougar attacks a dog, the locals blame the wolves.
Whenever a local poisons a dog, half the residents blame the wolves.
And as it turns out the leading cause of death for dogs in Idaho is dying from eating poison left for wolves. They use strychnine, cyanide, rat poison and a nasty pesticide called "compound 1080" that leads to the painful death of both the animal that eats it and to all of the scavengers that go after its body. One man who was convicted of poisoning wolves in 2005 was linked to over a dozen dog-deaths.
People leave sausages and meatballs made with the stuff all over the back trails in Idaho. There's an organization called the Idaho Antiwolf Coalition that advocates the extinction of wolves by any means necessary.
What a great place to bring up a family!
...
Oh, BTW: There have been no human deaths or injuries attributable to the reintroduction of those wolves. Zero. Zip. Nada. Not even an unattended infant in a bag full of bacon.