The Mountain Lion Foundation, a wildlife advocacy group, recently sued the Klickitat county sheriff after learning that he had deputized hounds to hunt and kill cougars.
The foundation’s argument was that legislature bans hunting cougars with hounds unless the situation is life-threatening.
Animal advocates say that the hound dogs and handlers are called out any time a cougar is spotted, meaning that they are not being hunted and killed out of being a threat to humans.
According to call logs, the hounds have gone out 63 times over the course of two years, having killed 19 cougars with no proof that they were actually causing a threat.
Unfortunately, the judge over the case ruled that the sheriff had not done anything illegal, and that he had made a decision that his position of authority allowed.
Despite this disheartening ruling, the Mountain Lion Foundation has not given up.
They still have the ability to appeal the court’s decision as well as bring new evidence to the table to try to stop these cougar killings from happening.
This article by Abigail Jane was first published by OneGreenPlanet on 5 September 2021. Lead Image Source : John Borrelli/Unsplash.
Klickitat County, #Washington‘s Sheriff Bob Songer is continuing to kill cougars based on their mere presence alone, all in the name of “public safety.” Yet, simply seeing a #cougar does not mean that it poses a threat.
https://t.co/DyZ82xF6Sn via @GdaleSentinel @WDFW #bigcats pic.twitter.com/wdHi3rva0M— Mountain Lion Fdn (@MtnLionFdn) March 25, 2021
What you can do
Support ‘Fighting for Wildlife’ by donating as little as $1 – It only takes a minute. Thank you.
Fighting for Wildlife supports approved wildlife conservation organizations, which spend at least 80 percent of the money they raise on actual fieldwork, rather than administration and fundraising. When making a donation you can designate for which type of initiative it should be used – wildlife, oceans, forests or climate.
Leave a Reply