Update on our Legal Fight to #SaveBCWolves

After two full days in court, our case has made headway. The judge is engaged, and he is giving enough time to hear the case which is rare in animal law cases. While court time was originally set for only two days, the judge has deemed that at least three more days in court are required.

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Pacific Wild’s hearing to review the legalities surrounding the killing of wolves in British Columbia took place earlier this month on July 7 and 8 in the B.C. Supreme Court. Our goal is to ensure that when decisions affecting the protection of wildlife are made in B.C., that a lawful process is followed.⁣ 

The B.C. wolf cull is a government-sponsored program implemented to protect endangered caribou. However, we know the root cause of caribou declines is human interference with the natural environment. If we fail to save endangered caribou habitat, killing wolves will not save caribou.

The wolf cull has been taking place since 2015, with approximately 1,400 wolves killed since the program began. In our view, the authority to cull wolves by aircraft has been inappropriately given to regional managers under current Wildlife Act regulations. The majority of wolf killings have occurred via civilians (contracted by the government) shooting from helicopters which we say also breaks federal aviation laws.

After two full days in court, our case has made headway. The judge is engaged, and he is giving enough time to hear the case which is rare in animal law cases. While court time was originally set for only two days, the judge has deemed that at least three more days in court are required.

"In animal law cases, the priority tends to be minimized. Often these types of cases don’t get a lot of court time. But in this particular case, we’re getting a significant amount of time which speaks volumes to how the judicial system is finally starting to take these types of issues seriously."

Wolves are an iconic species integral to the functioning of ecosystems in this province and a critical part of our work at Pacific WIld. We will continue to take on the government and hold them accountable for irresponsible and unlawful management of wildlife in the province. The fight to #SaveBCwolves continues.

Your help is needed even more today

We invite you to join our Summer of Wolves fundraising and awareness campaign in any of the following ways:

1.

Challenge your friends to a peer-to-peer fundraiser

Join Natalia in completing a running challenge, or come up with your own fundraiser (eg. an exercise or expedition challenge, an art fundraiser etc). Go solo or create a team, it’s up to you!