AR-News: Dog poisonings likely aimed at wolves

[jim robertson]

Dog poisonings likely aimed at wolves
Tuesday, June 8, 2004 Posted: 12:08 PM EDT (1608 GMT)

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) -- It had been a tranquil visit below the snowcapped 
peaks of Grand Teton National Park. Then Jim and Nancy Barrus' black lab 
began drooling, retching and quivering uncontrollably.

Two rangers at a campground store knew immediately what was wrong: The 
couple's pet Sammy was the latest victim of a poisoning spree -- likely 
aimed at wolves -- that has killed eight dogs and sickened 13 others.

Authorities believe someone has been putting poison in hot dogs and balls of 
meat and scattering them along roads in western Wyoming and eastern Idaho.

"I equate it to local terrorism," Nancy Barrus said. "They don't care who 
they hurt."

Especially in rural areas, anger over the federal government's 
reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park almost a decade ago 
has grown alongside the wolves' exponential increase in numbers -- and the 
rising number of cattle, sheep and big-game animals they have killed.

In April, Wyoming filed suit against the government's rejection of a plan to 
allow wolves to be on shot on sight in most of the state after they are 
removed from Endangered Species Act protection. The state plan would have 
protected wolves only in the national parks and adjacent wilderness areas.

There have been no arrests, but the poison and how it was used closely 
resemble instructions posted on the Internet by Tim Sundles, an ammunition 
store owner in Carmen, Idaho.

"I didn't feel like I could legally solicit anyone to kill wolves ... But I 
did feel I could provide information for freedom-minded people," he said. He 
denied involvement in the poisonings.

Sundles claims "a whole lot of wolves" were poisoned in the Yellowstone 
region last winter, although he declined to say how he knows. Ed Bangs, the 
government's wolf recovery chief for the Rocky Mountain region, denies it.

"Personally I don't have much sympathy with someone who thinks they have 
such a clear understanding of what everybody wants, they have the right to 
violate the law," he said. "Those are the type of people who blow up 
buildings."

On March 20, authorities raided Sundles' home, confiscating his computer 
and, according to Sundles, dried blood samples from his garage floor, where 
he had butchered elk. An Idaho Fish and Game Department spokeswoman said 
test results were pending.

Barrus, who lives in Riverton, Wyoming, says Sammy has nearly recovered from 
last month's poison attack. "It took a good five days to get him back on 
food and water and not twitching or trembling. And he still tires very 
easily," she said.

Fish and Wildlife agent Roy Brown worries a curious toddler could be the 
next victim. "This is tourist season and a lot of families with young 
children are out and about in northwest Wyoming," he said.



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Copyright 2004 The Associated Press



"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter." 
—George W. Bush, advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, 
Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004