PEARCE: FWS RIGHT IN CLEARING RANCHER; PROBLEMS WITH WOLF PROGRAM REMAIN
Las Cruces, NM (August 22, 2013) – Today, U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce made the following comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent determination that a female Mexican wolf, known as F1108, had been shot and killed legally, while in the act of attacking cattle on private land.
“I commend the US Fish and Wildlife Service on its decision to clear the New Mexico rancher who acted legally, in protection of his livestock,” said Pearce. “I appreciate their speedy and thorough investigation into this matter, and their respect for the law.”
“However, we must not forget that the wolf program remains a major problem for New Mexicans,” Pearce continued. “This rancher is only in the clear because he didn’t act until after the wolf had inflicted injuries upon his animals—had he chosen to prevent those injuries, this story would have ended differently. Too many ranchers live in fear for their families and their livestock, or in fear of legal repercussions if they act to protect them. This incident only reiterates the terror that wolves cause for New Mexicans, and calls attention to the need to rethink this costly and dangerous program.”
After millions of dollars spent and over a decade of efforts, the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program is an outright failure, with populations unable to come close to the recovery goals laid out by the US Fish and Wildlife Service—even as wolf populations elsewhere have thrived. Congressman Pearce has been a consistent opponent of continuing to pour money into an unsuccessful experiment that jeopardizes the lives and livelihoods of countless New Mexicans. Congressman Pearce believes that the management of the wolf population should be turned over to the state government.
Press Release
1 comment:
This comment about injuries possibly not being present could have made this a crime is so spot on. The wolf was in the act of fighting two mother cows. One muley and one horned. the muley cow had bites on her the calf a broken hock or hip. The calf injury was not considered a wolf injury. Nobody identified this as a wolf attack until after the wolf was lying there dead. The wolf was shot in the middle of a lot of action with two cows. There was not time to identify what exactly it was but there is no question now it was protection of property. Had there not been bites, mostly likely even though it was on private land and was protecting property, there would have been charges and fines.
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