By The Associated Press
PENDLETON — Oregon wildlife officials won’t allow people to kill wolves in the Mount Emily pack despite five confirmed attacks this summer.
The state wolf recovery plan would allow lethal control of the wolves because of their attacks on sheep and a guard dog, but the state Department of Fish & Wildlife chose not to go in that direction, the East Oregonian newspaper reports.
At least seven sheep and the dog were killed in pack attacks in June and August. Jeremy Bingham of Utopia Land and Livestock formally requested permission to kill the animals he says are “massacring” his sheep.
But the department turned him down, saying nonlethal measures have worked since the last attack.
Bingham said he has followed the rules for years and called the wildlife officials “dishonest.”