[quote]The deputy fire chief in Prince Rupert wants the city to change a bylaw that would allow him to shoot wolves with his bow and arrow.
RCMP issued a warning about wolves being seen in residential areas and School District 52 is telling children to make sure they go home directly after school, stay away from the woods, and walk in pairs if possible.
“I certainly have friends who have had pets literally shredded in front of them six feet away by wolves,” Jeff Beckwith told Daybreak North’s Carolina de Ryk.[/quote]
I believe he is willing to share…I think that he suggested in the interview that deer (other attractants) should be included in the hunt (and that might be too much for one person). I’m speculating that other attractants would include feral cats and other potential prey that wolves would be interested in (household pets?).
In other words, what should be hunted by humans would be based on what the wolves would recognize as prey. Lots of possibility there.
What I don’t understand is why Mr. Beckwith’s position as deputy fire chief should give his opinion any more weight than that of a non-deputy fire chief. Or is he really talking on behalf of the fire department and city?
Personally, living in the neighbourhood I would have preferred Mr. Beckwith circulating wolf - aware information than promoting a hunt as deputy fire chief (unless he was doing so as a representative of the fire department).
And no I don’t support a volunteer fire department: I respect their position and role too much to devalue the the important services they provide. I just think self interest and community interest are two very distinct things.
It appears the write up or audio is off the CBC website- just the headlines remain.
Perhaps I’m not savvy enough to find it or maybe it got pulled?
If you read the headline it states deputy fire chief, if you read the “listen to it” link it states Jeff Beckwith.
I’m thinking this was sensationalized by the CBC by adding his occupational title which I think probably had nothing to do with the interview.
He has supported this idea prior to his current posting and believe it or not quite a few people agree with him.
They were originally running the story as “The Deputy Fire Chief wants to hunt wolves with a bow.” They’ve since backed off, and are now running it as “A person who happens to be the Deputy Fire Chief wants to hunt the wolves with a bow.”
Responsible journalism when they feel the need to support their story with photos that are not wolves in Rupert. We don’t have packs of wolves meandering down our main streets !
Although I still disagree with the intent of allowing the hunt, I do regret that I trusted the original CBC headline and story lead.
That Mr. Beckwith acted as a private individual is appropriate.
When a person has a professional role that is highly visible care has to be taken that there is no perceived confusion between personal opinions and professional responsibilities. (That is the case in many professions). Obviously with the published clarification Mr. Beckwith has taken care to do so.
In fact considering the recent uproar over CBC personalities accepting payment for speaking engagements I would have thought that the CBC would have tread carefully in blurring the professional and personal roles of Mr. Beckwith.
I couldn’t find the audio on the CBC site anywhere, and the audio attached that link seems to be broken. I did get it to play once, but couldn’t play it again.
However, some CBC programs seem to upload their audio to soundcloud, and I searched there.
They at least tried to credit it on the story, as “Prince Rupert Wolves” instead of “Kaien Island Wolves.” And hey, it’s the internet, why didn’t they have a link instead of an incorrect credit?
If I were David, I’d ask them to at least correct the photo credit.
thanks MiG, the photo is from Rupert codybear933, and I’m not the one who took it, I posted it when my friend game me permission to post it to my website.
Regardless of who is who and what they do for a living, the idea of turning Prince Rupert into a hunting zone does not conjure up a healthy or safe environment for the citizens of our community. There are two professional organizations tasked with the responsibility of dealing with this situation. As we all know one was involved with shooting and killing a pet dog who was mistaken as a wolf. The point is, even the pros make mistakes. The prospect of amateur sportsmen roaming the city with bows and arrows only increases the risk of another accident.
Let’s keep the city a hunting free zone and let the RCMP and wildlife dept.do their jobs that we as taxpayers pay them to do.
wow um ok, then so i guess deer and wolves cant read damn those wild animals for disobeying the laws and statutes that govern our fare city. On a serious note how violent was the death of the deer? I wish those darn wolves would learn to hunt in a more humane way. Oh by the way do you think this is the first time? just saying this happens all the time, look behind Omenica street and you will find a number of deer skeletons.
wow um ok, then so i guess deer and wolves cant read damn those wild animals for disobeying the laws and statutes that govern our fare city. On a serious note how violent was the death of the deer? I wish those darn wolves would learn to hunt in a more humane way. Oh by the way do you think this is the first time? just saying this happens all the time, look behind Omenica street and you will find a number of deer skeletons.[/quote]
And seriously… I was born in this city. Can anyone name the last time a human in Prince Rupert was killed or seriously hurt by a wolf? They’ve been here, killing deer, for longer than any of us have been here. I’m no animal activist, but I’d be more scared of hunters turned loose in the city limits than I would be of getting attacked by a wolf.
