Dog, mistaken for wolf, shot and killed by teenager in North Idaho

[idahohuntr]

Pathetic.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/may/22/dog-mistaken-wolf-shot-and-killed-man-north-idaho/

A North Idaho man said his dog was shot on a Forest Service road last weekend by a teen who mistook the husky-malamute cross for a wolf.

The dog later died. The same bullet struck Jim Rosauer’s second dog, which survived.

“We saw both of our dogs drop to the ground. It was just shocking,” said Rosauer, who lives near Eastport, Idaho.

Rosauer said he and his wife, Lisa, were hiking Sunday afternoon on the snow-covered road to Spruce Lake, which is near the Montana border. The dogs had run ahead of them.

“We saw the people about 180 yards away with a gun,” said Rosauer, who described them as a couple with their 19-year-old son. “The man said to me, ‘Sorry. It’s my fault. I told him (the son) to shoot the wolf.’”

Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl confirmed that the shooting is under investigation, but said no charges have been filed. The sheriff’s department is working with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on the investigation.

Dogs are sometimes mistaken for wolves, said Chip Corsi, Fish and Game’s regional supervisor in Coeur d’Alene. Several years ago, a wolf hunter brought an animal to a check station that was actually a dog.

Corsi said he couldn’t comment on the recent incident, since it’s still under investigation. However, “people need to know what they’re shooting at, and they need to be hunting legally,” he said.

Idaho’s wolf season on federal lands closed March 31. Hunters face fines of up to $1,000 if convicted of attempting to take a game animal during a closed season.

Rosauer, a 50-year-old log furniture maker, said he feels compelled to speak out about the incident. He’s an elk hunter who supports public hunting of wolves, but said the “reckless disregard” for safety and flouting of hunting laws appalled him.

Kenai, the dog that was killed, weighed 65 pounds and had some wolf-like features. But unlike a wolf, she had an ear that flopped down and a curly tail, Rosauer said. She was with the couple’s other dog, a lab-malamute mix.

“He doesn’t look anything like a wolf,” Rosauer said, “but that’s not even the point. There is no gray area here. The season was closed.”

Shooting into a roadway also endangered him and his wife, Rosauer said. They were a short distance behind the dogs.

Rosauer said the couple and their son stopped to apologize and helped him load the dogs into his vehicle. Kenai died in a Sandpoint veternarian’s office; her shoulder was shattered. The bullet struck the other dog in the leg, but it’s recovering.

Anti-wolf feeling runs high in Boundary County, where vehicles sport bumperstickers that say “Canadian wolves, smoke a pack a day.” Rosauer said that type of sentiment encourages people to act lawlessly.

“We’re teaching people to have zero respect for the animals. I don’t remember growing up like that,” he said. “Where are our hunting ethics? You don’t have to like wolves, but I think they should be treated with respect as a game animal and a creature of this planet.”

Rosauer said he still feels raw over Kenai’s loss.

“This is a sad story, but I want it to be an educational one for people,” he said. “I’d like to see the culture change.”

[mfswallace]

I agree, this article is pathetic.  :')

[viva_che1363]

Didn't something real similar to this happen some time last year? I wanna say it was in ID too, lady letting her dogs run ahead of her and someone mistaken it for a wolf.

[AspenBud]

The gentleman was far kinder to that family and their son than I would have been. That will be a nice veterinary bill for the owner and then there is the principle of the whole thing.

Hello lawsuit.   

[AspenBud]

Didn't something real similar to this happen some time last year? I wanna say it was in ID too, lady letting her dogs run ahead of her and someone mistaken it for a wolf.

Here's one in Montana...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/10/pet-malamute-killed-by-wolf-hunter/3950523/

Nothing like giving hunters a bad name.

[AspenBud]

In fairness this isn't the worst. Last year a woman was walking her weimaraner in a wooded area out in Michigan and some old geezer plugged it and claimed he thought it was a coyote.

Too d@$% many trigger happy folks shooting at guesses, kind of like the kid who shot the woman thinking she was a bear some years back.

[andrew_in_idaho]

I agree, this article is pathetic.  :')

The only thing pathetic about this is that a kid was told by his father to shoot without properly identifying their target and even worse out of season. I understand people don't like wolves but the guy who's dog was just shot is right too many people with blind hatred for the wolves and blatant disregard of the law. None of us has to like the wolves but at least idaho is doing the best they can to manage them, too many more stories like this just add fuel to the anti hunters fire

[KFhunter]

It least it wasn't another brush picker mistaken for a bear

[MLBowhunting]

My dogs are family.  I would be pissed to say the least.

[trophyhunt]

That situation is why I put an orange vest on my chocolate lab when we go hiking, and he doesn't look like a wolf.  It's not the owners fault, so don't get me wrong, if my dogs come close to looking like wolves in wolf country and it's known the public hates wolves, I'd have an orange vest on them.  Slam on

[WA hunter14]

i worry about it too and my dogs dont look like wolves at all, i think both are at fault. sad situation but they both made errors.

[Bofire]

I agree with you Trophyhunt, being proactive to protect your dog is good. a vest, teaching it to sit, NOW!!! if needed, so many people are not.
Carl

[ribka]

I had coyote "hunters" shoot at my German Shepard on the lt Murray a few years ago. I was walking about 20  yds  behind her wearing an orange pack and she had on an orange collar.

[AspenBud]

Not everyone in the woods is hunting, or for that matter training, with a turtle. A vest on a fast moving pointing dog busting through brush is something of a bad joke. Trying to stop it on command when it's 500-1000 yards in front of you is even more problematic. They don't run close, that's not how they are wired or work most effectively.

If a person can't tell the difference between a hunting dog and a wolf, let alone a malamute and a wolf, they have no business hunting.   

[andrew_in_idaho]

i worry about it too and my dogs dont look like wolves at all, i think both are at fault. sad situation but they both made errors.

How did the dog owner make an error or could you possibly place blame on him at all, I don't care if it was a pet wolf, wolf season was closed and the poachers failed to correctly identify their target. Placing blame on the dog owner is just ridiculous