A Dane County judge has issued a temporary injunction on the use of dogs to hunt wolves in Wisconsin, throwing into question whether hunters will be able to participate in the upcoming wolf hunting season.
Judge Peter Anderson issued the injunction Friday afternoon, according to a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources statement. However, the statement said Anderson made it clear in his decision the wolf hunt will proceed.
DNR spokesperson Bill Cosh said in the statement the DNR will extend the application deadline for wolf hunt applications until Sep. 7, adding the injunction is only temporary and on the use of dogs. He said the DNR is consulting with its attorneys on how to move forward.
However, in a statement released Aug. 29, DNR officials said if the judge grants an injunction, it could prevent the issuing of more licenses until additional restrictions for the use of dogs are adopted.
“Given the time it would take to initiate a rule making process, such an action would prevent the 2012-13 wolf hunting and trapping season,” DNR officials said in the statement.
Jodi Habush Sinykin, attorney for the Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, National WolfWatcher Coalition and other groups bringing the suit, said based on the recommendations of experts, they are asking for adequate training and a series of safeguards to prevent physical confrontation between hunting dogs and wolves.
Sinykin said experts are recommending changes to the rules which would require hunters to put dogs on a leash, allow only certain breeds to pursue wolves and the DNR put in place specific rules pertaining to the training of dogs. She added the lawsuit is to ensure that dogs are only used to track, not hunt, wolves.
“That’s how dogs are supposed to be used: to track and not kill,” Sinykin said.
In a statement, Patricia McConnell, expert in canine training and behavior who has filed an affidavit in support of the groups bringing the charge, said the proposed regulations will prevent dogs from suffering severe injuries or death in a wolf confrontation.
She added without these regulations the wolf hunt would be “little more than state-sponsored dog fighting.”
Bob Welch, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Hunters Rights Coalition, said the lawsuit is “frivolous and borders on ridiculous.” Wirch also said much of the testimony provided by experts is not true and show they have never run dogs in any sort of hunt.
“[The claim that if] dogs chase wolves there’ll be fights – that’s just not true,” Welch said.
Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said in a statement he was disappointed with the ruling and cruelty to animal rules does not apply to legal hunting activities. He added hunting with dogs has been part of the hunting traditions of Wisconsin for a long time.
According to Wisconsin annual wolf damage payment summaries, the DNR has paid $214,794.16 in wolf damage payments to Wisconsinites this year, more than the total annual payments for any other year since the program started in 1985.
The DNR also received an estimated 13,215 permit applications as of Aug. 21, according to a DNR statement. The DNR will issue about 1,100 public harvest permits. The hunt would run from the middle of October to the end of February.
