Environmentalists Criticize Palin For Support of Aerial Wolf Hunting (graphic content)

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Wall Street Journal

An environmental group introduced a graphic television ad Friday condemning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's support for aerial wolf hunting. The ad also seeks to take the Great White North mystique out of the vice-presidential candidate for voters in the Lower 48.

The ad shows photos of the governor juxtaposed with footage of a hunter in a small, low-flying plane shooting a wolf, which stumbles in the snow, gnawing at the wound on his hindquarters. The camera cuts to a view of the wolf's bloody body strapped under the plane's wing. "Do we really want a vice president who champions such savagery?" asks the female narrator.

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group funded mostly by small donors, said it will run the ads for the next two weeks in Ohio's Toledo and Dayton media markets. The group plans to run the ads in other key political markets starting next week, according to William Lutz, the fund's senior director.

Gov. Palin ran for office in 2006 as an advocate of aerial bear and wolf hunting, saying it helps protect moose and caribou that locals hunt for food. Soon after she took office, Gov. Palin proposed the state provide a $150 "incentive" for aerial wolf hunters; to collect it the hunters would have to turn in the animal's severed left forepaw. Several environmental groups attacked the proposal as an illegal "bounty" and sued the state. The court shut the program down before it started.

Later, Gov. Palin backed a bill that would have made it easier for the state Board of Game to expand aerial hunting. The legislation passed the House, but failed to clear the Senate....

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122145097318135295.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

[tblue]

1. I'm glad this is covered on the WS fricking Journal!

[AndyTiedye]

2. You Can Watch The Video Here:

The page also accepts donations to defray the cost of running the ad.
https://secure.defenders.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&df_id=1547&1547.donation=form1&s_src=6JY08WDC4F&s_subsrc=6JY08WDC4F_EJI08D1web&JServSessionIdr012=31626m0j61.app27a

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Thanks, Andy. nt

[MJJP21]

11. I've said it before

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This video needs to get on TV.

[AndyTiedye]

3. Kicked and Recommended. Only Needs 1 More for the "Greatest" Page

[Usrename]

5. Yeeeeeeeesssss!

Perfect ad for Ohio. It will deeply offend every hunter that I've ever met from up north.

:thumbsup:

[ultrarunner]

18. Aerial wolf hunting

Just donated $100 for this ad.  Hopefully, this ad will be
aired in Pennsylvania were there are  millions of avid hunters
who would be offended by such savagery.

[Liberalynn]

6. Happy to Recommend

for the majestic wolves, and for the exposure of the cruelty of Caribou Barbie.

[ComtesseDeSpair]

7. Yes!

I'm so glad that this ad is getting shown on TV instead of languishing on the web. And I'm doubly glad that it's gotten national press! I wish everyone in the country could see it - and see for themselves what a sham Palin calling herself "pro-life" really is.

[flvegan]

8. K&R

[rhymeandreason]

9. Unbelievable

What kind of retrograde imbecile would advocate shooting wolves or any other animal from the air?

[SteveM]

12. I don't defend Palin, and this "hunt" seems unnecessary, but in answer...

to your question "What kind of retrograde imbecile would advocate shooting wolves or any other animal from the air," on occasion, feral hogs must be thinned out of wild life management areas and parks by using helicopters and game wardens armed with repeating rifles. When hogs become too numerous, they threaten the ecosystems which they infest by "hogging" food sources for native (and sometimes endangered) animals, and by damaging plant life. Further, they often damage berms and earthen damns as well as wreak havoc on agriculture. (In one Texas county, Van Zandt, agriculture had come to a stand still due to hogs roaming the land, including the streets of small towns. A bounty of $6/a hog ear was posted and within weeks, the appropriation was exhausted.)

Wolves will inevitably be hunted as game animals, but the restrictions on these hunts will likely mean that their numbers will not be threatened: wolves have gone from maybe 4 animals in the early 70s (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho) to nearly 2,000. They are survivors who will probably face thinning out by ranchers (as opposed to hunting) who will be licensed to kill them as livestock predators.

No one likes to face the hard question of what to do about animal over-populations which threaten eco-systems.

[hedgehog]

15. On the other hand, hogs are an introduced, "nuisance"

species akin to rabbits in Australia and rats in Hawaii. Wolves were here first.

[SteveM]

26. Couldn't agree with you more about hogs. Or brown trout. Or bluejays...

I would point out that whitetail deer were here first, yet they must be thinned out. Hopefully, regulated hunting can keep the lid on, but in some urban areas (from Austin to Princeton) have had to hire teams of sharp-shooters to kill scores of deer at night using infrared and silencers. This is because of gross deprivation of parks, auto accidents with deer, and destruction of landscaping.

[SCBeeland]

17. Wolves don't threaten eco-systems

IMO, the best way to deal with animal over-populations is to let the animals deal with it, and for the people who enjoy killing things to find something else to stimulate their minds, such as monster truck rallies and pro wrestling.

[SteveM]

24. I tend to agree with you...

Wolves are generally "self-regulating," though there may be problems with livestock predation if a growing concentration of wolves is near a ranch. Deer and feral hogs, however, can wreak much havoc while they are "dealing with it." This is undeniable. That is why deer are hunted on wildlife refuges: an overpopulation can take out endangered animals and plants.

I see you have a cultural problem with some other folks ("...for the people who enjoy killing things to find something else to stimulate their minds, such as monster truck rallies and pro wrestling.") These are clanking cliches and watermelon-eating stereotypes. I have enjoyed hunting for years, and while I do not enjoy killing, I enjoy the challenge of killing game and eating the animal I have taken. ALL people kill to eat; some directly (hunting), some by agent (shopping), some by abstraction (eating only vegetables from a farm that has taken out an entire eco-system).

Which are you?

[President Kerry]

20. There is no excuse for this.

[SteveM]

23. How about for hog infestation?

[rhymeandreason]

21. Not comparable

The behavior of Wolves and Bears are in no way comparable to the destructive behavior of feral hogs. Wolves subsist primarily on small rodents and bears are omnivorous with a preference for fish. Palin's policy makes no sense except as an indulgence for bloodthirsty halfwits.

[SteveM]

22. Never said they were comparable (nt)

[fascisthunter]

25. replied to wrong post

[alsame]

10. Good! I am a member of Defenders of Wildlife and I'm glad they

are doing this. Time for me to send another contribution.

[ryanmuegge]

13. I'm not too much of a bleeding heart when it comes to these sort of things, but

I think this says something about her character, particularly that she has little respect for life.

[MasonJar]

14. Defenders ad

I saw this ad and it is brutal; it should be seen everywhere as soon as possible. Please help with donations.

[barb162]

16. Hunting is disgusting. Period.

What's worse though is these hunting farms where the animals don't even stand a chance. Aerial hunting is the same IMO.

[Nambe]

19. If wolves had missles and pigs could fly...

Palin and wolves on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdnyfAX7lZU&feature=related

[fascisthunter]

27. GOOD... all conservationists should be appalled

that goes for hunters as well.

[eppur_se_muova]

28. OMG! There are aerial wolves now ?!?!

:wow::wow::wow:

Oops, my mistake -- it's just aerial 'sportsmen' with guns.

I feel SOOOOO much safer.

[StarryNite]

29. YES!

I am soooo glad to hear this! My daughter and I just donated to this last night! Woot! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: