Reblog from multiple sources:
Wolf Torture and Execution Continues in the Northern Rockies
by James William Gibson – March 28, 2012
Montana Anti-Trapping Group Gets Death Threat for Releasing Photos
On March 16, a Friday, a US Forest Service employee from Grangeville, Idaho, laid out his wolf traps. The following Monday, using the name “Pinching,” he posted his story and pictures on www.Trapperman.com . “I got a call on Sunday morning from a FS [Forest Service] cop that I know. You got one up here as there was a crowd forming. Several guys had stopped and taken a shot at him already,” wrote Pinching. The big, black male wolf stood in the trap, some 300-350 yards from the road, wounded—the shots left him surrounded by blood-stained snow. Pinching concluded his first post, “Male that went right at 100 pounds. No rub spots on the hide, and he will make me a good wall hanger.”
(The person in this photograph, Josh Bransford is a federal employee and public servant out of the Red River Ranger District on the Nez Perce National Forest in north-central Idaho. As a taxpayer, you have a right to call the Front Desk and complain about his behavior. Call for his resignation and/or ask that he be suspended without pay for a period of time for his actions 208-842-2245.)
All photographs were taken from Trapperman.com website are being reproduced here under Fair Use“Pinching” with the wolf he trapped that he wrote would make him “a good wall hanger.”
The Trapperman website went wild with comments. “That’s a dandy!! Keep at it,” wrote Watarrat. Otterman asked, “All the gray on that muzzle make a guy wonder how old he is or if it is just part of his black coloring.” Pinching’s picture of the wolf’s paw caught in the trap got special attention. “Is that the MB750 stamped ‘wolf’ on the pan?” asked one man. “Looks to be a perfect pad catch. Congratulations! Pinching confirmed the trap model and commented, “Oh an [sic] by the way, a wolf is a heck of a lot of work to put on a stretcher! Man those things hold on to their hide like no other!”
By late March some 117 Idaho wolves had been killed in traps and snares, and another 251 shot. Montana saw 166 killed, for a total of 534 wolves out of an estimated 1150 in the two states. Although Montana’s season ended in February, Idaho is not quite done. Both states have announced plans for increased hunting in the 2012-2013, and discussions are underway among hunting groups and state officials to allow private donations to establish wolf bounties.
Wolf’s paw in trap.
As recently as the spring of 2011, gray wolves in the Northern Rockies received protection from he Endangered Species Act. But in April, 2011 Congress passed a rider on a federal appropriations bill removing them. Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester, facing a 2012 challenge from Republican Congressman Danny Rehberg, wanted to show Democrats hated wolves just as much as Republicans. Conservation groups filed suit in Montana’s federal district court, claiming the delisting represented an unconstitutional infringement by Congress on the judicial branch while it deliberated an ongoing lawsuit over federal wolf protection.
Losing in district court, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater, WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Cascadia Wildlands appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit. On March 14, the appeals court rejected their arguments, upholding the Congressional wolf delisting as a lawful amendment. This decision might well mark the endpoint for the conservation movement’s decades-long fundamental strategy of litigating in federal courts to promote wolf recovery in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
A hunter and his dead prey.
Thus wolves, demonized by the far-right in the Rockies as disease-ridden monsters and icons of the federal government (see my Summer 2011 Journal story, “Cry Wolf”), now face a brutal campaign to radically reduce their numbers so far that extermination can not be ruled out. Idaho’s Governor Butch Otter declared in a March 25 news conference that his state faced a “disaster emergency” from wolves. “We don’t want them here.”
Skirmishing on the web escalates. Footloose Montana, an anti-trapping group, posted the trapped wolf’s pictures on its website, drawing over a 1,000 comments within days. Word spread. Nabeki, founder of Howling for Justice, opined that “This wolf will be the face of the cruelty and ugliness that is the Idaho hunt…Our forests are hiding acts of unspeakable horrors that are being perpetuated on innocent animals.” Protesters called Idaho and Montana tourist bureaus, demanding the hunts end. By Monday, March 26, Trapperman learned that its photos now circulated offsite. The group’s administrator demanded that Footloose Montana remove the photographs.
Footloose staff and board members also received an anonymous death threat in their email: “I would like to donate [sic] a gun to your childs [sic] head to make sure you can watch it die slowly so I can have my picture taken with it’s [sic] bleeding dying screaming for mercy body. YOU WILL BE THE TARGET NEXT BITCHES!”
FBI agents and Missoula, Montana police received copies of the threat.
Wolf advocates hope that these pictures will go viral, shaming a nation into facing the torture people inflict on animals and the moral and political failures that promote and legitimize it.
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*** FURTHER ACTION / UPDATE – 03/04/2012 ***
ID Forest Service employee and trapper, Josh Bransford, had nothing better to do than to pose in front of a wolf caught in one of his leghold trap – the wolf had already been shot a couple of times while he was helplessly caught in Bransford’s trap! This brutal and callous behavior, particularly when displayed by an agency employee, whose salary we pay, is unacceptable. For more information, scroll down to read John Adams’ article in the Great Falls Tribune. Thank you for your help! Your friends at Footloose Montana
Please voice your opinion about this tragedy and call or send an e-mail today!
Here is some contact information. Please be respectful:
Nez Perce National Forest: Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell (208) 983-7000 / rbrazell@fs.fed.us
Deputy Forest Supervisor Ralph Rau (208) 983-7017 / rerau@fs.fed.us
Fire Management: Bob Lippincott (208) 983-4066 / blippincott@fs.fed.us
Public Affairs: Laura Smith (208) 983-5143 / lasmith@fs.fed.us
Idaho Fish and Game: Director Virgil Moore: virgil.moore@idfg.idaho.gov
Idaho Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore: (208) 334-3771.
Please sign this petition, which will be sent to:
USDA Office of Ethics Forestry Ethics Branch(Lorraine (Rainee) Luciano, Branch Chief Agency: U.S. Forest Service) and UDSA Forest Service Chief(Tom Tidwell)
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-torture-of-wolves-in-our-forests
Photos of live, trapped wolf prompt threats to Missoula-based group
A photo downloaded from an online trapping forum shows an Idaho trapper posing in front of a wolf that was caught in a foot-hold trap and then allegedly shot at by bystanders. Missoula-based anti-trapping group members say they received death threats after posting the photo on their Facebook page. PHOTO COURTESY EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL.
HELENA — A Missoula-based anti-trapping organization said it received a threatening email this month after the group posted graphic photos on the Internet of a live Idaho wolf caught in a foot-hold trap.
Anja Heister, executive director of Footloose Montana, on March 22 posted a series of photos gleaned from an online trapping forum called Trapperman.com on her personal and Footloose Montana Facebook sites.
Heister said she opened Footloose Montana’s email inbox on Monday and found what she believed to be a death threat directed at family members of the organization:
“I would like to donate (sic) a gun to your childs (sic) head to make sure you can watch it die slowly so I can have my picture taken with it’s (sic) bleeding dying screaming for mercy body. YOU WILL BE THE TARGET NEXT BITCHES!” the message read.
Heister said the email was in response to the group posting photos of a northern Idaho trapper’s March 18 wolf kill, which was detailed on the online trapping forum.
The photos show trapper Josh Bransford, a fire management officer for the Nez Perce National Forest, kneeling and smiling for the camera as a wolf he caught in a foot-hold trap stands behind him in a ring of blood-soaked snow. Another photo shows a close-up of the wolf’s paw caught in the trap. A third photo shows the trapper posing with his catch.
Heister said Footloose Montana, which is actively campaigning to ban trapping in Montana, has received plenty of hostile emails and phone calls since 2007 but never anything that rose to this level.
“It has a cumulative effect on your psyche,” Heister said. “I’m not easily scared, but when I read this I got really concerned.”
Heister said she reported the threatening email to local and federal law enforcement officials. Missoula Police Sgt. Travis Welch confirmed the department received the report of the malicious email and that it was assigned to an investigator, but he declined to comment further.
In an online blog on Earth Island Journal’s website, writer James William Gibson recounted what Bransford — who goes by the handle “Pinching” — wrote about the photos. Bransford’s post has since been removed.
“I got a call on Sunday morning from a FS (Forest Service) cop that I know. You got one up here,” the post said, and then continued, “there was a crowd forming. Several guys had stopped and taken a shot at him already,” the post read, according to Gibson.
According to Bransford the wolf was a 100-pound male with “no rub spots” making an “good wall hanger.”
Bransford did not return calls or emails seeking comment Thursday.
As of late Thursday the photos posted on Footloose Montana’s Facebook page had received nearly 900 comments. Online commenters on both the Earth Island Journal and the Footloose Montana Facebook page expressed outrage over the photos. Many viewers were angry Bransford posed for a portrait with the wounded wolf before killing it.
Dave Linkhart, spokesman for the National Trappers Association, said there’s nothing wrong with a trapper posing with his catch before killing the animal.
“You pose with a successful catch just like you do with a successful hunt,” Linkhart said. “People make the problem of attributing human feelings and emotions to these animals.”
Linkhart claimed trapped animals don’t suffer, so taking the time to shoot a photograph does not cross ethical boundaries.
“If you look at the trap — across the pad of the foot like that — if you were to release the animal it would walk away like nothing happened,” Linkhart said.
Editor: Here’s what my former professor had to say about this (and Linkhart’s ridiculous comment above):
Marc Bekoff is a former professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder and fellow of the Animal Behavior Society who has studied the social behavior of wolves and coyotes, among other animals.
“That wolf was suffering immeasurably. Not only physically by having his foot locked in a trap, but also being shot at,” said Bekoff, the author of several books on animal psychology and emotion. “This was not hunting. This was having an animal having its foot smashed in trap and then shooting at it with bullets. This wolf was tortured.”
Linkhart said if the wolf was shot at, that isn’t the trapper’s fault.
“Somebody else came up there and shot that animal first. That is illegal. What the trapper has done here is not,” Linkhart said. “The problem was not the trap. It was the illegal activity of the hunters who shot at that wolf.”
Reach Tribune Capital Bureau Chief John S. Adams at 442-9493, or jadams@greatfallstribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @TribLowdown.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120330/NEWS01/203300316/Photos-live-trapped-wolf-prompt-threats-Missoula-based-grou
Editor: I have spoken with Bransford’s USFS Supervisor Ralph Rau. The concern I expressed has not to do with the legality of trapping the animal but with Bransford’s failure to adhere to ethical trapping practices when he arrived at the trap site. These call for the immediate and “humane” dispatch of the trapped animal. I fail to see how posing for a photo opportunity complies with these guidelines. I’d like Linkhart to explain how it does? Further, contrary to what Linkhart says, hunters pose with their kills post-mortem. Why couldn’t bransford have made the least attempt to minimize the massive suffering of this animal? It is on these grounds that I am requesting that he lose his hunting and trapping privileges and also be subject to prosecution for cruelty to animals. If you share my views, please contact those people listed above and express your concerns about the actions of a federal employee and how he is treating animals.
he needs to be suspended from his job. what he did was inhumane regardless of wolf or not. we brought them here . what a wonderful idea.not. if an animal needs to be killed do it fast .but to stand ther and just torture it and post it and be so proud. such a big man he is.from his picture he looks as if he is enjoying his little hunt. it would be getwonderful if he was out looking for another job and wipe that ugly smirk off his face.get rid of him. this kind of man needs to go maybe he needs to be tortured.he deserves all the hate mail i dont feel sorry for him.
How disgusting! I’d like to have this man’s foot caught in a wolf trap and then let people take photos while he remains in misery.
“walk away like nothing happened” – I think that the bloody snow surrounding the wolf is a clear indication that SOMETHING happened; and generally speaking, painless somethings don’t produce volumes of blood. So, yeah, anyone with a brain can see that the wolf was suffering. Pain is not just a human emotion; animal clearly feel pain, too. Also, a wild animal feels a great deal of stress just in being restrained and so close to humans, even before the little sadistic future serial killers started shooting at him.
When I was a young man, I hunted and fished for years. One day I shot a dove, which instantly erupted into the typical burst of feathers and glided to the ground. Before it hit, I heard thousands of voices, coming from everywhere, shouting like people at a football stadium: “NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONO!!! The roar was everywhere, and stretched infinitely in all directions, and although I am an atheist, it had a truly biblical effect on me, especially when a very calm, clear, deep-throated voice, just over my shoulder, asked me in the most sarcastic tone: “Was that really necessary?” I had never before and never since have had an experience like this. But this is not the point; the real point is the undeniable barrage of insights into the feelings of animals in general which has haunted me to this day. This wolf had a central nervous system very similar to my own, to yours, and even to the monster who calls himself “Pinching”. Furthermore, I have personally experienced extended periods of excruciating pain–pain that few people can even imagine–and even the possibility of an anguish like that in another being tears me to pieces. For any animal, such as “Pinching”, to deliberately inflict such anguish–not to mention posing with pride alongside his victim–places him or her in the category of a mad dog–a neurologically perverted creature whose propensity to cause pain and death is an undeniable reason for his own execution.
I couldn’t agree with you more. If only these people had the ability to empathize they would never commit these atrocities. In fact, it’s not a lack of emotions but the lack of empathy that differentiates a sociopath from a healthy person. Anyone that does to ANY animal what Josh Bransford did to that wolf must by definition be some form of sociopath.
How can people say that humans are the “civilized” species when we still do things like this? I wonder how brave these men felt circling in armed on a scared dying animal that was trapped and in pain.
It’s such a shame we have people like this and i just want to thank you for your article on this, hopefully it is shown around and we the more emotional developed can get somewhere with this. Its sick and horrible that people find this as a “sport” and even worse that they get some enjoyment out of this. Looking at the last photo was the worse, the pure enjoyment on the mans face makes my stomach turn. Animals are like toys to humans a fashion statement which is wrong, and these kind of people just kill to show how manly they are and show off the pelts of animals who went through god only knows what in the wild. Animals hunt for food, they fight to survive and then this happens, whats so fair about that. I hope this man got fired it might teach him a lesson in survival, which is nothing compared to what this beautiful and amazing animal went through.
Please let Josh Bransford’s employers know how you feel about paying this
man’smonster’s salary: Here is some contact information. Please be respectful:Nez Perce National Forest: Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell (208) 983-7000 / rbrazell@fs.fed.us
Deputy Forest Supervisor Ralph Rau (208) 983-7017 / rerau@fs.fed.us
Fire Management: Bob Lippincott (208) 983-4066 / blippincott@fs.fed.us
Public Affairs: Laura Smith (208) 983-5143 / lasmith@fs.fed.us
Idaho Fish and Game: Director Virgil Moore: virgil.moore@idfg.idaho.gov
Idaho Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore: (208) 334-3771.
Please sign this petition, which will be sent to:
USDA Office of Ethics Forestry Ethics Branch(Lorraine (Rainee) Luciano, Branch Chief Agency: U.S. Forest Service) and UDSA Forest Service Chief(Tom Tidwell)
What an awful awful subject of a human being. His true spirit is gone. What a waste ….truely sad and thoughtless. Not a very bright representation of a true human spirit that is here to protect.
You are all a bunch of idiots. Human life is sacred, to so callously call for his head on a platter is to expose your own inner sadist. How is it that you, not knowing all the facts, can so self-righteously pass judgement on a man just doing his job? He posed for a few moments to take a trophy picture, then shot the wolf. For that he and his wife deserve to be tortured and jobless? How does that make sense? If you cared to really look into the situation then you would see that he did everything right. He and his family have come under fire for his doing something that he had every right to do. Ask yourselves this, If i take a picture that some radical group doesn’t like, do i deserve to have a bounty placed on my head and my family criticized and threatened? Is that the new way of things? Those who see a picture without knowing the context can then condemn and destroy those involved simply because the picture offended their sensibilities? Do those involved really deserve the punishment or is it unfitting of the crime? Josh is a good man. He took a picture meant for his grandpa, hence the smile. He is neither a sadist nor cruel. Someone looking for trouble went and found the picture and turned it into a public witch hunt. How would you feel if they went looking through your pictures and did the same thing to you?
This moron has both psychopathic and sociopathic personality traits and he will be a danger to anything living if he chooses. He cannot be employed in a position where he has carriage over life.
Anyone that traps a wolf is both a sadist and cruel.
Beyond this before you endorse that he did nothing wrong why did he lie to the police. He clearly spoke with the people that were shooting at the wolf from the road which is a crime. Further he’s the one that posted the pictures of himself to brag about his kill.
If you think trapping is okay, I suggest you experience what it’s like for yourself. Here’s how you do it. Go to the worst part of a big city. Now, toss your keys into the car, lock the door and slam your hand in it. Discover what it’s like to be the victim of anyone that passes by. Discover what it’s like to be completely unable to protect yourself or escape. Discover what it’s like to be terrified and cold and suffering. Then, if you’re like Josh’s wolf you might also discover what it’s like to be used for target practice and then to have a smiling moron (whom you’re mortally afraid of) stand around to have his photo taken before he kills you.
After you’ve tried it out then you tell me just how humane Josh is or what a great person he is..
Moreover, he posted that he had an extensive trapline set. This takes substantial time. Especially to run the line frequently enough to meet the guidelines. If you’re so certain he did nothing wrong perhaps you can provide his GPS with the days and times that he ran his line. I’d like to compare it against his work hours. I’m betting that he checked his traps while on the taxpayer dime. This would be grounds for termination. He’s a fire services employee, he doesn’t work for Fish and Game. If he was checking his traps at any time while on duty he was stealing from the American people.
To ‘NATE”
the victim is the cruel bastard who does nothing to stop what he is being paid to stop? the photo was for his grandpa? you must be kidding, so the whole family is no good which is no surprise as animal abuse runs in families. this is what will happen; he gets fired, his wife gets fired because we, the people, pay taxes which in turns pays for their salaries. take your complaints to your no-good governor who allows this to happen.
@Nate: you are the moron here. HE MADE DEATH THREATS AGAINST INNOCENT CHILDREN. Period. Or did you miss this? I guess so…
Human animals are not superior to non-human animals at all, in my opinion. And, in fact, four legged animals often display more nobility. Studies have shown that scientists expected that there an approximate 8% of the human population that had some degree of being sociopathic, – they were alarmed to find it is more like 25%! Only a sociopath can knowingly and wantonly trap an animal and be uncaring or even joyful about the helplessness and suffering of the animal…..another fitting word would be cowardice.
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How sad. I hope this individual receives some form of discipline. Any updates?
A person like this should not be in a position of authority and should be fired. To be able to let an animal suffer like this and have a picture taken of it shows his lack of caring for life and feelings of living things. Does he also treat humans as he does animals specially ones that are not as big and strong as he appears?
Call Terry Nevis, his direct supervisor, and tell him what you think of this animal torturer Josh. 1 208 842 2245.
Terry says he’s proud to have him working for him. I am sickened so many are supporting him…. They need to realise they are just as backward and we are shocked by their support of animal abuse. Did it on his own time? He still broke the law. It is against the law to torture animals, isn’t it?
Stop this type of “people” who are working in wildlife conservation. Stop hunters who don’t have respect for animals and who see animals only as targets. Also pig hunting with dogs in the US is cruelty. I,m a hunter my self but I hunt with deep respect for animals and only when it is necessary.
from the Netherlands
well with stupid people like that all the wolves will be extinct soon then what will they shoot us? just like palin shooting a helpless animal how sad they dont shoot criminals instead oh wait thats what they are right
He should be chained and people should throw stones at him and then leave him for the animals to feed on. He isnt a hunter. A hunter hunts not traps and uses the animal for target practice. The animal doesnt have a chance. What an ass. And hunters eat their game is he going to eat the wolf I bet not.
There are some sick fuckers in the world and buddy, you one of them. I can’t believe you get paid to do this. I hope you lose your job and can’t find another for years. Don’t ever come to my neck of the woods because if you do you will look pretty funny eating corn on the cob with no fucking teeth!
Before you people go off and bitch and complain and say how bad this guy is you need to think about what theese wolves will be eating after they have all of their natural prey eaten, with no natural predators the wolves will start killing more and more people, and it probably wont be any of you people that sit behind a desk all day.
Terri Quick, you are ignorent you obviously dont know anything about wildlife. If I were you I’d really think before I said anything as stupid as your last post. If you are not a hunter keep your thoughts to yourself and not be so fast to pass judgement on others who do hunt. You never hear anyone who hunts say that the people who dont hunt are stupid. And just because we hunt that don’t make us criminals.
First animals. then people. He doesn’t fit in society.
You all forget that we put you in office and we can kick the hell out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Put a stop to this if you value your job’s…………..
This is disgusting. This man should be fired.
I have to agree with Nate. I think the guy is being demonized because people don’t like the law. And it’s not true that he made a death threat against a child. Reread. That threat was anonymous. People on both sides of this issue have made death threats, and there are even posts online calling for his wife’s resignation, when she wasn’t even involved at all.
Now I do agree that it wasn’t the brightest thing to do to take pictures and post them online. And taking the time to do that did prolong the animal’s suffering, regardless of how short an amount of time it was. He wasn’t one of the people shooting at the wolf from the road, and it isn’t even clear that these were friends of his. If he spoke to them, it was probably in his capacity as a ranger, after he realized that the animal had been ensnared (which was not clear to the people on the road).
To be honest, it’s questionable that there was anything illegal about what was done…although it’s pretty clear that the guy is going to be raked across the coals for it, anyway. And his family, too.
It’s fine if you don’t like hunting, but it’s not illegal. Go after the laws if you don’t like them. Don’t set off a lynching.
Stealing from the US taxpayer is illegal as far as I know. I have spoken with numerous trapping authorities and what I’ve found is clear – either he was checking the traps during hours when he was on the clock – this is at a minimum something for which Josh should have been fired — or — he wasn’t checking every trap on his line as frequently (72 hours per trap) as ID trapping regs require. If this was the case he should have his trapping permits rescinded. If he wants to vindicate himself, let him publish his work schedule and let us compare it to the GPS record of where and when he checked each trap. If Bransford has done nothing wrong in either regard then he should be perfectly willing to provide this data to anyone that asks. Otherwise, he should be terminated or lose his permits.
Justin, you’re badly misinformed. Wolves don’t kill people. People kill wolves. We’ve killed half a million of them in the US in the last 100 years alone. Wolves in all of North America may have killed 2 people in this same period. Maybe 2 — that isn’t even 100% certain. Cows kill more people each month. So do deer. And wolves have been co-existing with the animals they eat for hundreds of thousands of years. If they kill off all of their natural prey, they starve. Since there are still wolves and still elk, moose, deer, caribou, bison, dall sheep, etc. I’d say nature doesn’t needs our interference for this to work. In fact what nature needs is for us to leave it alone.
But shooting at a trapped animal, failing to check traps as the law requires, or posing for a photo opportunity while an animal that’s been trapped and then shot at violates ID’s trapping requirements that state that an animal in a trap should be immediately and humanely (their words, not mine) slaughtered. What part of mugging for the camera fits these requirements? Hunting may not be illegal but the actions of Bransford don’t align with the regulations. And by the way, cruelty to animals is criminal.
Dan, are you threatening me on a public forum? Because all IP addresses are recorded and any threats I feel to be serious I will report to the authorities.
Everything that I’ve read so far indicates that he was on personal time, trapping on private property with the owner’s blessing. It’s also true that people don’t only hunt wolves for trophy, but they also do it to protect livestock, which for some are their livelihood.
As far as the pot shots from the road go, Bransford did not do that. People were already gathered on the road and had been taking shots at the wolf without realizing that it was ensnared.
Now I agree…taking the time out for a photo opportunity before putting the animal out of its misery did prolong the suffering. But it’s pretty clear that lots of hunters do this and don’t suffer any consequences over it. People are claiming that it took all of about 90 seconds, and then the animal was put down. In this case, I just think the guy is being targeted because he was dumb enough to post the pics on a hunter’s site, and because he’s a federal employee. It’s pretty clear that people are demonizing him and his family because they are against all hunting and trapping.
And 72 hours is a long time. A lot can happen in 72 hours. So far there have been no reports that he hadn’t checked his trap in the correct manner. No doubt people will be trying to find any way they can to get him on any technicality that they can. I don’t know what the requirements are for trappers, as I am not one, nor do I know any. I wouldn’t imagine that they would be so stringent as to require them to keep log books on when they last checked a trap. I’d think these expectations are special ones that people are clinging to because they want to skewer a federal employee.
I think the thing most people are upset over is that pot shots were taken at an ensnared animal. That isn’t something Bransford was involved in. They also don’t like that he posed with the wolf, and made insensitive comments about hanging it on his wall. These things might be offensive to some, but are they illegal? If not, are they really a reason to go after a person like this…try to get them and their family members fired from their jobs and calling them horrible names?
And don’t think that there have been no death threats made against Bransford and his family. The threat made against the animal rights group was anonymous, and there is no evidence that it came from Bransford.
Rose, have you ever actually seen an animal writhing in a trap? I have. Perhaps if you did you might feel differently.
Additionally, Rose, by his own admission, Bransford “spoke with the people on the road”. Since discharging a firearm from a public right-of-way is a crime, his failure to divulge the names of the perpetrators is also aiding and abetting in the commission of a crime. He’s not lilly-white any way you cut it.
There was also a cop who was present and had also spoken with the people on the road. As far as I know, no one was arrested or fined. They were on private property, so it may well have also been a private road. People have stated that they were unaware that the animal had been ensnared when they had taken shots at it. It was 350 yards away.
I think people are also under the impression that Bransford is a park ranger or something like that. His title is something like fire management officer, and to me that sounds like someone who fights forest fires. And his wife is a watershed director. So he hunts and traps on the weekend. There’s no law against it.
Your comment about trapping is noted, and I don’t trap, but again I have to say that there isn’t anything illegal about trapping. From the article it is clear that there is debate on how much an animal suffers in the type of trap that was used here. The guy isn’t on trial for trapping or animal cruelty. In fact, I have read that a full investigation was done and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. There is even information that he checked the trap more times than required. Naturally, animal rights activists are not happy with that, and they continue to try and lynch him.
What they’re really upset about is the law allowing trapping or hunting at all. To be honest, we’re not all vegetarians (and neither is a wolf). I can’t look down at my nose at people for hunting to feed a family or to protect their livelihood. Of course I would like for them to be as humane as possible, but legally all that is required is to be as humane as the law requires. It all comes down to this…did anyone break the law? An investigation has shown that no one did.
Calling him a bunch of horrible names, going after his family, trying to get him fired when he hasn’t done anything illegal…none of these things makes animal rights activists appear to be humane, themselves. If people are going to argue from a position of ethics, then it behooves them to behave ethically, themselves.
I think what you have here is a guy who fights forest fires and hunts on the weekend. One of his friends probably told him that they were having trouble with wolves on their property and he offered to help. He checked the trap more times than he was required, and at some point a wolf got ensnared. People happened by who didn’t know about the trap and started taking pot shots at it from the road. Someone called the police (probably the property owner). The cop showed up…talked to the people who probably quit shooting at the wolf, and the cop notified Bransford about the wolf. Bransford showed up, took a quick photo for his Grandfather, and then dispatched the wolf…about 90 seconds later.
Now you might not like hunting or trapping, and you might not like that it’s legal, but it is. The fact that this is a federal employee really doesn’t have any bearing on it. There was nothing illegal about what happened.
Your words appear to contradict the facts and the regulations. If he checked traps on the weekends then he wasn’t checking every seventy-two hours which is what is required. If he checked every seventy two hours as required, then he did so during the week. To prove he did these checks on his own time he should make available his logs and his time card. Otherwise everything is hearsay.
As far as it being a private road, it wasn’t the Josh’s own account that he originally published on trapperman.com said that they were on “the highway” that’s not how you’d describe any private road.
You also bring up an another interesting point. The responding officer also failed to do his duty. He found people were shooting from the roadway (as reported by Josh) and yet he failed to enforce the law he was sworn to uphold.
This goes a long way towards showing the attitudes towards the wolf in Idaho and further confirms the public’s overall impression that at every step of the way the people involved in this incident have failed to do their jobs and turned a blind eye to the commission of several crimes. If this had been an elk people would be in jail.
Again…I repeat…an investigation was done, and Bransford checked the traps more than he was required to. The fact that I worded it the weekend in my hypothetical situation doesn’t prove anything at all. If they even require trappers to keep a log, that information would have been available to the people investigating the incident. Everything other than the fact that the investigation turned up no evidence of wrongdoing is hearsay…everything.
Like I said before, not all the particulars are known by every person who decides to post an opinion online. The road may have been private, in which case, the rules for firing from a public road would not apply. The officer may not have even been able to press any type of charges if the owner of the property didn’t agree to do so. If it was obvious that the people didn’t realize that the animal was ensnared, then the officer really had no grounds for animal cruelty charges, and you can’t just charge people, willynilly. You actually have to have evidence that they knew they were shooting at a trapped animal. They can sue you over stuff like that.
This is being treated as if it is one big incident that all the people were involved in together. The people shooting, the officer, and the trapper are all different aspects that would need to be investigated separately. It isn’t a trapper’s fault that between the legal times that he checks his trap, other people do something to the animal.
If you look into the situation, you may well find that people were fined for that. I don’t know. But that has no bearing on whether or not Bransford did anything wrong. What we know is that an investigation came up with no wrongdoing on his part. Whether or not there was any wrongdoing on the part of other people involved is another issue. Bransford is the person who is receiving death threats, being called horrible names, and people are trying to get him and his wife fired from their jobs.
When people just post a picture and run with it like this…erroneously attributing things to an individual that he did not do, he’s being tried in the court of public opinion. Obviously, the people who actually know all the facts don’t feel there was any wrongdoing on his part.
If it isn’t clear, let me spell it out. I have looked into the situation extensively. You keep making factual errors because you haven’t. Bransford himself posted most of the information on trapperman.com
Maybe we are just reading different things. Can you produce an article that shows Bransford was found to have committed wrongdoing and is being fined, fired, and/or prosecuted?
Because even articles on the websites of animal rights advocates are saying entirely the opposite.
Admin, “Wolf attacks are not a thing of the past, however. T.R. Mader of the Abundant Wildlife Society of North America has compiled a record of more recent occurrences.”
A coroner’s jury has decided that it was wolves, not a bear, that attacked and killed an Ontario man at a remote mine site in northern Saskatchewan.
The partially eaten body of Kenton Carnegie, 22, was found November 8, 2005 about a half kilometer from Points North Landing, about 750 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon. He’d gone for a walk and didn’t come back.
Dont tell me that I am badly misinformed when I have heard stories of wolf attacks and if i wanted more information I can just look it up on the internet. The facts are all over, I think you are the one that is badly misinformed.
Rose: you speak of legality..HA..that’s a sick comment. What about ethics? Is everything about being legal and to hell with the ethical part of the circumstance. This man acted in a very cruel manner, showing no compassion at all for an animal that was agonizingly suffering. His self absorbed thoughts were “to get a picture”. How would you feel if you went to the hospital in agony and the doctor said…wait, don’t give her that pain shot yet, I want to take a picture first? The vast majority of human beings are selfish, self absorbed and have twisted thought processes that always put themselves and their petty wants and needs ahead of ethical behavior. Josh Bransford made light of an animal in agony, and this is the core of the problem that our society is devolving into a desensitized glob of humanity. It’s evident on the TV, pictures like Bransford put up…and if you think this whole ball of wax has nothing to do with shootings like we just saw in Aurora Colorado you are sadly mistaken. It’s ALL connected, as we are but a shred in the fabric of life, in society.
What right does man have to eliminate a species from the earth? What right does man have to alter the biodiversity of a healthy planet, causing an imbalance in nature and setting off the demise of the planet as we have known it in our lifetimes? Do you think we will leave our children a healthy world, both physically and mentally?
If we let Josh Bransford get away with this seemingly harmless act we deny its impact. This should not happen. Josh Bransford must learn the difference between right and wrong and ethical thinking people of society must demand it.
just soo you know god will punish allof u sick basturds …. and i cant wait to wathc+++h+ +every single one of you burn in helll yayyyy….
How about having some Marines from boot camp that still have to qualify for rifle qualifications use this jerk for some target practice.
Josh Bransford should be fired and put in a trap and left to suffer. I am sorry what is wrong with people these days . He sees nothing but himself . Does he not see how that poor wolf is suffering and in pain and he just wants a picture. The person with him should also be put in a trap and they should both suffer together.
But of course nothing will happen because the higher ups will close there eyes and see nothing and for what ever reason people want them dead I am not sure. They are part of life and should be left alone. Give me a trap.
Justin, nowhere did I say they were a thing of the past. I have repeatedly stated that wolf attacks on humans are exceedingly rare. There are only two instances of probable wolf attacks in North America in the last 100 years. Two. Do you have any idea how many people are killed by lightening each year? Or cows? Or deer? You’re far more likely to be hit by lightning while in the middle of wolf territory than to be attacked by a wolf. You can try to characterize it anyway you want to but like you pointed out, a simple Google search will make it clear that what I have said aligns precisely with known facts about wolf/human interactions in North America.