Because of the government shutdown, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has rescheduled public hearings on their irresponsible proposal to delist gray wolves nationwide.

Please attend and speak up for wolves – they cannot afford to lose endangered species protection.

This reckless and politically motivated plan will further intensify the ongoing massacre of wolves. We have already seen the tragedies occurring in the Rocky Mountain states and the Great Lakes region where hateful anti-wolf rhetoric and politics trump ethics and science. Consequently, hunters and trappers have officially slaughtered over 1,700 wolves in these states since Congress took ESA protection away from them in 2011.

New dates and locations for public hearings:

Colorado: November 19, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 405–1245.

New Mexico: November 20, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, Sandia Room, 1000 Woodward Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102; (505) 245–7100.

California: November 22, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. the Marriot Courtyard Sacramento Cal Expo, Golden State Ballroom, 1782 Tribute Road, Sacramento, CA 95815; (916) 929–7900.

Arizona: December 3, 2013, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Hon-Dah Conference Center, 777 Highway 260, Pinetop, AZ 85935 (3 miles outside of Pinetop at the Junction of Hwy 260 and Hwy 73); (928) 369–7625.

We need to pack the rooms with the most passionate wolf advocates, like you – bring your friends, co-workers, family, and neighbors to these meetings and speak against the agency’s misguided plan to abandon wolf recovery by giving in to small interest groups like hunters, trappers and ranchers, who are already waiting to kill wolves with bow and arrows, bullets and traps and snares.

When wolves lose ESA protection, they lose everything.

Tell the Service that the job of wolf recovery is not done yet, when wolves have only returned to 5% of their historic habitat. Tell them also that wolves will not have a future so long as the same mindset that caused the near extinction of wolves is still present in individual states that would be tasked with wolf “management” after the delisting.

Also, if you haven’t already, take action and copy and paste the comment letter below to the USFWS to prevent this imminent tragedy! Deadline for submitting written comments is December 17, 2013.

Submit your comment here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FWS-HQ-ES-2013-0073-30560

As a supporter of In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal rescue and protection organization with over 100,000 supporters, I’m writing to you today to request that ESA protection continues for gray wolves throughout the United States.

When wolves lost their ESA protection in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, these states immediately began to allow a recreational slaughter in which wolves are being injured and killed by “recreational” bow hunters, trophy hunters and trappers, in addition to being killed by aerial gunning and their pups brutally killed in their dens. More than 1,700 wolves have been officially killed in these states since Congress took ESA protection away from them in 2011.

Not numbers, but the question “Has the human behavior that caused the endangerment of wolves and made necessary their protection changed?” should determine whether this species can afford to be released from ESA protection. The same mindset that caused the near- extinction of wolves is still present in individual states where wolf management is driven by hateful anti-wolf rhetoric and politics dictated by the livestock industry, ranchers, trophy hunters and irresponsible politicians, that trump sound ethical and scientific management decisions.

Wolves are not only important for maintaining the health and integrity of ecosystems, but they are also sentient beings who have families and highly-developed cognitive and emotional capabilities. Also, studies have shown that killing wolves may lead to increased depredation.

The recovery of wolves must continue, but will not succeed in the face of incapable management by individual states that will only try to drive wolf populations lower and lower. Wolves cannot yet afford to lose ESA protection and I urge you in the strongest possible terms to retain ESA protection for wolves and help them to a full recovery that is supported by science and ethics, and not spurred by politics.

Sincerely,