Lawsuit seeks to stop wolf hunting season

Citing “state-sanctioned” animal fighting and violations of the state’s animal cruelty law, a lawsuit was filed Wednesday in an effort to stop the wolf hunting and trapping season scheduled to begin this fall in Wisconsin.

The action was filed in Dane County Circuit Court against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Natural Resources Board. At its heart: state rules authorizing the use of dogs to hunt wolves.

“A broad range of Wisconsin citizens oppose the rules established for this season,” said Jodi Habush Sinykin, an attorney for HS Law in Milwaukee who is among those representing the plaintiffs. “From hunters to landowners, ecologists to volunteer trackers and community humane societies, there is strong agreement that the season was set up without the restrictions needed to prevent deadly animal fighting.”