Wolf pack adopted from Boise High School had 8 puppies killed by federal government, sparking outrage

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – Conservation groups in Idaho are speaking out against the “inhumane” killings on public lands of eight Cubs who were part of the Timberline High School wolf pack.

After the murders, representatives of several groups in Idaho sent a letter in August to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking him to “immediately suspend the culling of cubs on all public lands by federal agents of the United States. ‘USDA’. The US Department of Agriculture responded last week saying the agency is working to find “practical, humane, efficient and environmentally friendly solutions to wildlife problems or conflicts,” but measures fatal may be necessary.

Lawyers said they were shocked and upset that the Biden administration would support the killing of the puppies, which they said came after complaints from a breeder.

“We are very concerned and believe the Biden administration needs to step up and restore protection because we know Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are in a full frontal attack on wolves,” Dick Jordan, former science professor at Timberline High Recipient of an academic and presidential science award, said the Idaho statesman. ” Something has to be done. It’s inhumane, it’s unethical, and it’s not environmentally friendly.

COMMUNICATION WITH THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

In the original letter to the Biden administration – signed by representatives of a number of groups, including the International Wildlife Coexistence Network, the Western Watersheds Project, the Friends of Clearwater and the Center for Biological Diversity – the groups said that they were “appalled” to learn the Federal agents of the USDA’s Idaho Wildlife Services were implicated in the killing of the puppies.

They said wolves were already “under attack” in Idaho following a law passed earlier this year that expanded the possibilities for killing animals. The bill removes the 15-per-year limit on wolf hunting and trapping, and allows the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board to hire private contractors to kill wolves they believe pose a threat to the livestock or wildlife.

“There is nothing biologically valid or socially acceptable about killing Cubs on federal lands, especially when wolves are under significant eradication pressure,” the letter said. “Wolf puppies pose no threat to domestic livestock – in Idaho or anywhere in the western United States.”

In response, Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, wrote a letter saying Wildlife Services “prefers to use non-lethal methods.”