Here's a follow-up to that story I shared a couple of weeks ago about Romeo, the Bernese Mountain Dog killed by wolves in northern Minnesota.
In a recent interview with Hunters for Hunters, owners Michael and Karren described the incident, the impact on their family, and how wolves have chased/threatened other neighbors' dogs—and even one woman out walking and firing a warning shot as a wolf faced her on the trail.
Karren now fears for her hearing-impaired granddaughter going outside alone. Their neighborhood has created a wolf-watch to alert each other of sightings.
"It's changed me forever," said Karren. "I don't feel safe."
I shared this example as just the latest of many such clashes highlighting the issue of wolves in Minnesota—and how a growing number of people are losing patience with inaction from government officials. They want a legalized wolf hunt.
Yet, if we scale back beyond those concerned about threats from wolves, we see an opposing force of wolf advocates urging to make such a hunt forever prohibited. (Not to mention, the federal policy prohibiting the killing of a wolf even if it is attacking your pet.)
This underlying conflict of sides further in opposition, with regulators in the middle unable (or unwilling?) to enact effective policy, is the big point here, with this pattern playing out over several such issues across the country. It's the focus for this story I'm working on, using the wolf issue as the main example.
The good news? The wolf issue in Minnesota also points us in some directions for how we can best resolve this—and other societal conflicts—we face as a state and nation.
Watch the whole interview with Michael and Karren here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=755297316515576