MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin’s bear hunters say they support a plan to study whether hunters are letting their dogs fight wolves.
Wisconsin law allows hunters to use dogs to chase down wolves. The Wisconsin Bear Hunters’ Association was one of the driving forces behind that provision. Animal rights advocates, though, have raised concerns that the law sets up deadly dog-on-wolf fights in the woods.
The Department of Natural Resources plans to ask wolf hunters to allow federal wildlife specialists to watch them skin their kills this fall and document signs of bite trauma.
DNR officials have acknowledged few hunters will likely participate. But Bear Hunters’ Association President Al Lobner said Friday his group supports the plan. He it offers a chance to disprove the notion that hunters allow their dogs to fight wolves.