By John Beard
MADISON (WKOW) — A Wisconsin appeals court overrules an earlier ruling and says hunters in the state can train their dogs to chase wolves.
The state law that established Wisconsin’s wolf hunt allows hunters to use dogs to track wolves, but a group of humane societies sued in 2012 claiming the Department of Natural Resources failed to place any restrictions on dog use, setting up bloody wolf-dog encounters.
A Dane County judge eventually ruled hunters can run dogs on wolves during the season, but can’t train them on wolves the rest of the year.
The 4th District Court of Appeals on Thursday found the training prohibition has no legal effect and hunters can train dogs on wolves.
An attorney for the humane societies says Thursday’s decision creates more urgency to change state law to clearly ban dog use on wolves.