Court Grants USSAF Intervention in Wisconsin Wolf Lawsuit

Posted on October 19, 2012

Today, Dane County Circuit Judge Peter C. Anderson granted a motion by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) along with Safari Club International, the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, and the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to stop the use of dogs in the state’s wolf hunt.

USSAF and its partners will now have the opportunity to directly participate in the lawsuit, giving sportsmen an advocate in this important case.

“We’re very happy that Judge Anderson is allowing sportsmen to participate in the lawsuit,” said Jeremy Rine, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation in-house counsel.  “This case means more to sportsmen than just being able to use their dogs in the wolf hunt.  It could go as far as setting a dangerous precedent by manipulating the state’s animal cruelty laws to ban or restrict hunting.”

In April, a coalition of Wisconsin humane societies and several individuals filed a lawsuit seeking to prohibit the use of dogs in the wolf hunt.  The coalition claims that the use of dogs to hunt wolves violates Wisconsin’s animal cruelty law despite the fact that the state’s animal cruelty law clearly states it does not apply to hunting.  The lawsuit also claims the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources should have enacted strict rules on the use of dogs – rules that would make it nearly impossible to hunt wolves with dogs.

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