Palin and Wolves in Alaska: Info You Need To Know

PLEASE link directly to this post and send around. People need to be educated on Palin and arial wolf hunting. They need to experience this visually, not clinically in black and white on the face of a newspaper or in words from talking heads. This is a highly charged issue: The brutal killing of animals for profit. They need to understand how Palin ignores science in favor of profit. They need to understand that Palin is a hardened killer.

"We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential.”
--Sarah Palin

Of course, Sarah doesn't feel that way about all innocent life. Just the two-legged sort.

Anyone paying attention has noted that McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, has played an ugly role in the torturous slaughter of wildlife in Alaska. While this angle may not play to NRA members overall, I can tell you that one of my woman friends, a weapon owner and long-time supporter of the NRA, is furious with Palin's far-reaching slaughter of Alaska's wolves. She is also a Republican. She will not be voting for McCain/Palin.

First, please watch this fabulous video on wolves, it is very educational on this species. It is DIFFICULT film to watch in the second half. Don't look if it bothers you. Go past it just listening, then watch the rest including the history on aerial killing. The aerial wolf killing history in Alaska is now playing out in the Rocky Mountain states where wolf extermination is under judicial review as this is being written.



Now, read this. This is an older document, but a very good one and one appropriate to today. The actors are different, but the results are just as terrible.

Alaska's actions, today supported by Palin, also point to something just as disturbing: Palin's lack of science understanding and disrespect for qualified biological assessment on a range of issues.

In the case of the Alaskan slaughter, the wolf hunt is NOT about controlling populations gone berzerk, it is about killing wildlife to serve economic needs of local populations and, largely, tourism (hunting). Read comments on the bad science used to allow this slaughter here, from a wildlife biologist and 30-year member of Alaska's Board of Game [BOG] followed by a quote from him.

"Having been involved with this issue for more than thirty years as a biologist and a BOG member, I was struck by the sheer volume of misinformation (disinformation?) that accompanied this latest eruption of one of the most volatile and controversial issues in Alaska. The wolf control advocates formulated an extensive mythology of mistruths, half-truths, and distorted facts to bolster their case. I'll identify some of the myths they used and comment on them." [insert not mine] [sic at mistruths]

This information is important to know. The wolf hunt is NOT about controlling populations gone berzerk, it is about killing wildlife to serve economic needs of local populations and, largely, tourism (hunting). In fact, Palin has offered a bounty of $150 for each front left forepaw brought in from a wolf. This is the alleged voice of conservative compassion.

Another group that has supported cessation of aerial wolf gunning--in fact the corrupt process which is pseudo-science at best--is Alaskan Wildlife Alliance. Here is a quote from a Ph.D. biologist studying both moose and bear in Alaska, and author of five books on Alaskan wildlife. Here is a link to his entire writing, which is very good reading.

So long as the State fails to address these and other controversial points, its truths will remain half-truths where advocacy trumps objectivity, and propaganda masquerades as education. Worse its battle against so-called “ballot box biology” will remain more fundamentally a battle against democracy – against having government policies guided by the pubic will rather than by politicians and special interest groups.

Wolves are not eaten, they are hunted for "sport". Put yourself, a mammal, with very similar biology into the place of these wolves. Ask yourself if threatening, exhausting then killing ANY animal is humane. And this is what Palin supports? What makes this any different than dog fighting, clubbing baby seals, or harpooning whales in the name of (non-existent) "research"?

As Christians, we cannot and must not allow the creation to suffer in the way these animals suffer. As humans, capable of logic, it is imperative, regardless of belief or lack of belief in God, to understand our place in the web of life and how our actions--especially brutal actions in the name of profit, such as this--squares with science and logic. As sentient beings, wolves experience fear, pain and suffering just like we do.

WHEN is it ever alright to cause suffering? How can we ever be proud of such actions? Is a woman like Palin, who believes in this kind of killing, the kind of human being we want in the White House?


Photo Credit: niked from: http://www.akwildlife.org/content/view/92/74/