6 Dogs Killed By Wolves & 4 Others Injured in Northern MN in Last 5 Weeks

First off, I want to be clear that I am not a journalist. I am a radio personality and blogger. This is my take on a heated debate.

We talked for a while this morning on B105 about the wolf attacks up the North Shore. It's a controversial issue. When we take calls from listeners the overwhelming response is people are scared for their pet's, children, and themselves. Is it an irrational fear? Let's look at some statistics.

Here's what is happening recently as reported by MPR.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of dogs killed by wolves in northern Minnesota. In the last five weeks, six dogs have been killed and four seriously injured. That's more dogs than were killed by wolves in the entire state last year. Most of the incidents have taken place near Duluth.

We did have one person criticize us for scaring the public by referring to it as "a rash" of attacks lately. I'm sorry, but 10 attacks on dogs in the Northland in just over a month is a rash. I would hate to see what that person would believe a rash of attacks would be.

Are we sensationalizing this? Here's a quote from the DNR:

Kipp Duncan, a DNR Conservation Officer who covers the townships north of Duluth, has investigated five dog deaths since late last fall.

"Within the last half a year, we've had I would say probably a spike of wolves that are coming in and going after some domestic animals," he said.
Wolves sometimes kill dogs to defend their territory. But Duncan said all five dogs were taken from yards; one was chained to a dog house. All were eaten, he said.

Fear of wolves is not irrational. We are not trying to cause panic when we say watch out for your pets, children, families, etc. We are trying to protect what is ours and keep people safe. Wolves are predators.

I don't suggest we hunt them until they are extinct like our ancestors did, but I see no problem controlling the population with a wolf hunt. That's my opinion that I AM ALLOWED TO HAVE.

To be fair in this debate, the article from MPR also does say from the DNR that we can coexist:

"Wolves live in a lot of different places in northern Minnesota, and don't cause problems, and people rarely have interactions with them," Stark said. "It is just something to be aware of, and in some cases cautious about it."I certainly don't see a problem letting the public know that there are attacks happening and watch out for your pets.

Exactly. Let the public know. If it sounds scary it's because it is.