DNR warns dog owners about Ashland and Sawyer County wolf packs
Unusually high incidents of dogs being killed
Wolves in Ashland County have killed seven bear-hunting dogs this month, and hunters and dog trainers are being warned to stay away. Kate Houlihan has the story.
The seven dogs were killed in four separate attacks this month. The attacks took place east of Cable and west of Glidden in the Chequamegon National Forest. Adrian Wydeven is a wolf expert for the Department of Natural Resources in Park Falls. He says this is the first time this pack of wolves has killed hunting dogs. ýWe know that they had pups last year and pups this year and itýs when they have pups present that they become especially aggressive toward dogs. It may have been just a case where the first time around the dogs just got too close to where the pups were and the adults got aggressive toward dogs near their pups, and since then theyýve just become more intensely aggressive toward the dogs.ý
Wydeven says typical bear-hunting dog training takes the dog away from the hunter. He says attacks most often occur when there arenýt people nearby, because people tend to scare off wolves. Wydeven says in this case family dogs arenýt in danger.
ýItýs a fairly wild country, there arenýt really any people living right in the area where the depredations are occurring, so it wouldnýt be a place people would normally be allowing their dogs to roam anyway, but it would be a good idea not to let your dog roam in that area if people are considering doing that.ý
Wydeven says this week a bear-hunting dog was killed north of Ladysmith in southern Sawyer County by a wolf pack that had killed four dogs last year. He says this type of aggressive behavior can carry over.
ýCertain packs develop an attitude toward dog depredation and if they do kill dogs one year thereýs a good chance theyýll do it again the following year.ý
Wydeven says about 70 to 80 wolf packs are found in northern Wisconsin areas used for bear-hound training, so these incidents only represent two packs.