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DOG

Swede loses her dog to wolf hunters

A woman from Stockholm on vacation in Dalarna, central Sweden, lost her dog over the Christmas period when a man mistook it for a wolf and shot it dead.

Published: 27 December 2012 07:48 CET
Swede loses her dog to wolf hunters

Hutch, 7, was a Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamut mix who usually lived with his owner in the Stockholm suburb Bandhagen.

On Wednesday, his owner let him roam around the Dalarna forests without his leash on. But the large, pale dog ran afoul of a neighbour, reports the tabloid Aftonbladet.

Hutch was shot in the head and died on the spot.

The family is now devastated while the man who shot the dog says he is still in shock.

“We have had problems with predators here. Bears, lynx and wolves that tear our animals to shreads,” the shooter, a farmer in his 50s, told the paper.

“I deeply regret what happened.”

He agreed to drive Hutch home to Stockholm where his owners will cremate him.

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ANIMALS

Spain moves to ban wolf hunting and give species protected status

Spain has taken steps to award the Iberian wolf protected status which will mean a complete ban on hunting the species.

Published: 5 February 2021 15:27 CET
Spain moves to ban wolf hunting and give species protected status
Photo: Mark Chinnick/Flickr

The Committee of Spain’s Natural Patrimony – which includes representatives from each of Spain’s regional governments – voted to include the wolf (Canis Lupus) on the national list of protected species along with the Iberian Lynx and the Cantabrian Brown Bear.

It now has to be signed off by Environmental minister Teresa Ribera.

Farmers however were quick to condemn the move, arguing that a nationwide hunting ban would lead to more attacks on their livestock.

Hunting of the Iberian wolf is currently only allowed north of the Duero but those populations south of the river were already listed as a protected species.

Spain is home to an estimated 1,500-2,000 Iberian wolves, with 90 percent of the population found in the northern regions of Castilla y León, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia.

But wolf populations have been detected even within the Madrid region in the sierra less than an hour’s drive from the capital.

Farmers Union UPA accused the government of igoing against the interests of farmers and insist that the number of attacks on livestock have grown alongside wolf conservation programmes.

“It is we livestock farmers who are in danger of extinction,” it said in a statement.  

Conservation group Ecologists in Action however, welcomed the new protection but urged authorities to work with farmers on ways to protect cattle without harming wolves.

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