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2005 Annual Report
Please click here to view the Sequoia Humane Society's
2005 Annual Report (PDF)
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Vets who support SHS Spay/Neuter Drives
Sunny Brae Animal Clinic
900 Buttermilk Lane
Arcata, CA 95521
822-5124
Eureka Veterinary Hospital
4433 Broadway, Eureka
442-4885
Animal Health & Surgery Center
1257 Riverwalk Drive, Fortuna
725-6154
Myrtle Avenue Veterinary Hospital
2715 Hubbard Lane, Eureka
443-8686
Ferndale Veterinary
1140 Van Ness Ave., Ferndale
786-4200
McKinleyille Animal Care Ctr
839-1504
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Save the Wolves
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MYTH: Wolves are "vicious" killing machines with no purpose.
FACT: Like any top predator, wolves play an enormously important role in their ecosystems.
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Wolves use body language and facial expressions to communicate with each other. Dominant wolves will freely look each other directly in the eye—this declares and reinforces their superior rank.
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Wolves play a key role in their ecosystem by culling weak and old elk and deer and reducing the long-term concentration of elk herds on sensitive meadows and wetlands. In what is known as the cascade effect, the presence of wolves affects a multitude of species within the ecosystem. Elk, wary of the new top predator, have altered their grazing behavior. With less grazing pressure from elk, streambed vegetation such as willow and aspen regenerate after decades of over-browsing. As the trees are restored, they create better habitat for native birds and fish, beaver and other species. In addition, wolves have reduced coyote populations by as much as 50 percent in some areas, which has led to increased populations of pronghorn antelope and red fox. In short, wolves play an important role in nature and their presence enhances native biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.
Yellowstone National Park has been at the center of debates over the wolf for decades. Wolves were deliberately extirpated from this park in 1930. In 1995 the wolf was restored to the Yellowstone ecosystem and the central Idaho wilderness area, where they were designated as "non-essential experimental" under protection of the Endangered Species Act, including provisions allowing control of wolves under certain conditions (such as if they are preying on livestock or if wild populations of deer, elk, or other large game are severely affected by wolf predation).
Wolves are carnivores, but they will eat other foods as well. Their diet ranges from big game such as elk to earthworms, berries & grasshoppers. To avoid using too much energy, wolves prey on weaker members of a herd, such as old, young & sick animals.
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Federal law requires that the three states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have safeguards in place to prevent wolves from going back to the brink of extinction if federal protections are removed. Of these states, only Montana has a state wolf plan that balances the conservation needs of the wolves with management needs to address human concerns. Federal law also requires, before federal protections are removed, that the threats that caused the wolf to become endangered in the first place must no longer exist. Neither Idaho’s nor Wyoming’s state wolf plans provide the needed safeguards, nor have the threats to wolves in these states been removed.
The wolf plan for Wyoming would declare wolves to be "predatory animals" in 90% of the state, allowing them to be shot on sight even if they were causing no trouble. In the remaining 10% of the state wolves would be declared trophy game and managed through hunting. Wyoming has also recently announced its intention to kill 16 of its 23 wolf packs once federal protections are removed.
In Idaho, Governor Butch Otter recently announced his intention that 550 of Idaho’s 650 wolves be killed, with hunting tag prices set as low as $10.
You can help! Go to http://www.petitiononline.com/wolf/petition.html and sign the "Save the Wolves!" petition, sending a message to the Idaho & Wyoming legislatures that indiscriminate killing of wolves will not be tolerated.
Back to SHS Home Page
e-mail
humane@sequoiahumane.org
Web Space donated by
CalWeb Internet
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Sunday, September 7th, 2008
10am - 5pm at Halvorsen Park in Eureka, CA
Visit the SHS Forever Friends Memory Garden
Send us your Feedback!
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Holiday gift certificates are now available. It can be used towards the purchase of adoptions, spay/neuter vouchers, microchips and Tailwaggers thrift shop.
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Great gift idea!
Woofstock 2007 t-shirts are on sale for $10 each.
Sizes are limited.
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