The Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has recommended a “complete moratorium on new wolf hybrids” in Maine, Sen. David Trahan (R-Waldoboro) said Feb. 22.
The committee’s amendment to Trahan’s original bill, An Act to Regulate the Keeping of Wolf Hybrids, includes an emergency provision. If the full legislature passes the bill (a two-thirds majority is necessary due to the emergency provision) and Gov. Paul LePage signs it, it will immediately take effect.
Trahan expects the full legislature to act on the bill within two weeks. “An emergency bill with a unanimous [committee] report usually goes through very quickly,” he said.
Trahan credited the “very graphic testimony” of two “national experts” in a conference call with the committee with compelling the committee to pursue a “much more aggressive permitting system” in the amendment.
Beth Duman, an author and biologist, and Merritt Clifton, editor of “Animal People,” a newspaper and website “providing original investigative coverage of animal protection,” testified via conference call.
The Humane Society of the United States submitted written testimony in favor of the bill, Trahan said.
Mark Stadler, the Director of the Wildlife Division at the Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW), expressed DIFW opposition to the bill at a Jan. 25 public hearing. Stadler could not be reached for comment prior to press time.
The legislation, with the committee’s amendment, would classify hybrids as wild animals and require would-be hybrid owners to apply for a “wildlife permit” similar to permits for ownership of a wild wolf or a coyote, Trahan said.
The amendment would require hybrids to be spayed or neutered and outlaw breeding of the animals, effectively ending the pet trade in Maine.
“I took [Jim Doughty’s] advice on that,” Trahan said, referring to comments Doughty, whose plan to open Wolf Ledge Refuge on his Bristol property inspired the legislation, made to The Lincoln County News.
Trahan said he’s “very pleased” with the committee’s actions.
“I think Mr. Doughty cares about his animals and wants to do the right thing,” Trahan said. Wolf hybrids, however, “don’t belong in the state of Maine” or in a “family setting,” he said.
According to Trahan, the committee is waiting for the “final language” of the amendment before the legislation will go before the full legislature.
Doughty said the legislation would not affect his plans to open Wolf Ledge Refuge. “I didn’t plan to [import hybrids from outside the state] anyway,” he said Feb. 22. “There’s plenty of hybrids in the state.”
“If [the state wants] me to get a wildlife license, I’ll get that too,” Doughty said. “It won’t stop me.”
Doughty also expressed skepticism about the state’s ability to enforce the legislation. Many Maine residents own hybrids but classify the animals as a “mix” or otherwise avoid regulation, he said.
“You’d have to go through and make sure every animal was classified before the law can take effect,” he said.
As for breeding, the bill is “not going to stop the backyard breeders,” people who illegally breed the animals in their homes, Doughty said. Those breeders, he said, should be the state’s “biggest concern.”
Doughty said he hopes to speak with Trahan about the matter.
