According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, two local dogs have died following encounters with wolves in recent days.
The first attack occurred on March 13, involving a livestock working dog in the North Park area. Officials confirmed that a wolf attack was behind the death of this dog.
A second attack occurred within four miles of the first one, on March 14, this time involving a pet. Wildlife officers responded to a report of a dog getting severely injured in a wolf attack near a residence in rural Jackson County. The decision was made to euthanize the dog due to the extent of its injuries, with wolf tracks found in the area.
GPS collar data was also used to confirm that wolves were present at the time that each dog was attacked.
While the owners of the working dog will be compensated for their loss, compensation is not provided for the loss of pets.
When wolves attack dogs, it is often territorial, with wolves seeking to keep other canid species out of their range. The presence of wolves means that monitoring dogs and other pets is crucial in areas where wolves are known to be present.
The wolves that attacked these dogs naturally migrated into the state and are not part of the reintroduction effort that's scheduled to start at the end of the year.
The measure behind the reintroduction of wolves into Colorado passed by a narrow margin with 50.91 percent of the statewide vote. Much of the support came from the Denver metro area, which has since been a point of controversy as those in the part of the state where wolves are set to be reintroduced mostly voted against the measure. Jackson County, where the recent attacks on dogs occurred, voted 87 percent against reintroduction.
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(17) comments
Hey Raswoofer, lighten up. No one is going to agree with you all the time and you're not going to change their minds. As the prolific Ronald Reagan once penned, "Influence: something you think you have until you try to use it."
[yawn]I don’t think anyone is reading or comprehending my comments. I’m getting tired of reading the same useless suggestions. This is why wolf haters are so difficult to deal with….closed and one track minds. Ranchers are not victims if they don’t try to help themselves. Open space is public….my land, too, that ranchers are using for a pittance. I am getting off this thread now, because it is useless to argue with people that have mental blocks, or are just stubborn.[cool]
Pretty simple: Release wolves in the areas that voted for it. They should be happy with their vote.
All of you are suggesting that wolves be relocated to Denver and Boulder. This is the mentality of wolf haters. They don’t help with constructive comments.
WHat do you accomplish by stating such a useless and totally impractical comment? Just because the vote happened to be legitimate and didn’t go in your favor. CPW is working on plans for the success of releasing wolves. In the meantime, wolves are moving into our state naturally. That had nothing to do with anyone’s vote. There are ranchers in Northwestern Colorado that are trying to work with people helping them learn nonlethal deterrents. Negativity brews negativity.
Excellent idea!
Like the idea of putting the wolves in the areas where the people voted for them. They should have to live with their bad choices instead of everyone else.
Ranchers need to get up to speed with the use of livestock guardian dogs. A herding dog is no match for wolf. Dogs such as Kegal dogs that will chase and fight a wolf are necessary. Alert dogs such as Great Pyrenees will also get killed by wolves. Pets need to be under supervision, especially when wolves have pups and rendezvous sites. Wolves are territorial. I think complaining about the presence of wolves that have naturally dispersed to our state isn’t going to help. Ranchers need to be proactive in protecting their livestock.
We should re-locate these wolves to the Boulder/Denver area that voted for this. We're not Yellowstone: fences have long since permanently altered the west.
Thankfully, folks are just hunting these wolves down.
I mean you can try and blame literally everyone else or you could care for your animals better. This can be avoided and owners are more to blame than the wolves are
Correct!
Agree
Idiot
This is not a solution…it’s called pass the buck. Wolves will not be hunted down in Colorado….it illegal to shoot or trap them.. Public lands are the problem. Ranchers turn their livestock loose and expect a wolf to ignore them. The ungulate population in Colorado is phenomenal. Non lethal deterrents are needed to entice the wolves away from easy prey. The other thing is are the ranchers dumping their dead cattle in piles so wolves get a taste of the meat? Ranchers need to help themselves instead of blaming.
Are you a rancher?Have you lived near ranching areas? Are the ranchers supposed to sleep with their livestock? I can tell you’re not by the statement you just made. You have no idea what you’re talking about. If a wolf comes on my property after my dogs it’s gunna be a dead wolf.
Couldn’t agree with you more! This was passed on emotion with no real fore thought. Where is the money going to come from to “make this work”.? We know the people who voted for this sure aren’t going to pony up.
If you shoot a wolf I hope you get caught. There is a hefty fine and jail sentence if you shoot a wolf. Take care of your dogs. I lived I a suburb of Denver where there were coyotes, cougars, and bears. We were able to be responsible pet owners and monitor our dog’s whereabouts. What makes you so special?
Not being able to defend your cattle ranch livelihood because people living in metro areas have more votes? That’s just stupid!
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