Darien, CT -- Friends of Animals renewed a call to the public to boycott travel to Alaska, as more than 81 wolves have been shot from aircraft to make moose hunting easier this winter. The animal advocacy group's new ad campaign starts next week with provocative ads to appear in USA Today , and six or more magazines and widely circulated newspapers.
The recharged boycott follows a ruling by the Superior Court of Alaska that the state's aerial wolf-shooting scheme is invalid. Rather than stop the gunning, the state's Board of Game hastily made up new rules and started offering permits again.
Supporters worldwide can endorse the Alaska tourism boycott by joining the "I'd rather be here than in Alaska" campaign. Photographs of boycott supporters holding signs reading "Boycott Alaska," "I'd rather be here than in Alaska," and similar statements will be featured on the web page,
www.boycott-alaska.org
The idea, brought to the Friends of Animals' blog by Francis Murray of Juneau, Alaska, follows a lawsuit brought by Friends of Animals and individual plaintiffs which temporarily halted Alaska wolf control in January.
On the 17th of January, the airborne hunting permits were recalled following the Superior Court ruling that the Board of Game failed to follow its own regulations. With the permits withdrawn and the hunter-pilot teams grounded, the boycott on travel to Alaska was suspended.
Needless to say, the Board did not appreciate being told "No." On the 29th of January, the Board called an "emergency" meeting. In addition to repealing all requirements and limitations that apply generally to wolf control -- the bases for the Court ruling that the aerial wolf control scheme was invalid -- the Board also barred related public notice and input.
One-hundred fifty-seven gunners and pilots may now get back in the air, chase wolves to exhaustion, and then shoot them. Having already killed more than 502 wolves under the airborne hunting permits since 2003, Alaska officials want 400 more dead before 30 April 2006.
Friends of Animals' new web page unveils the highs and lows where folks would rather be than in Alaska. Pictures are arriving from individuals and groups near iconic landmarks and destinations, lines at local banks and post offices, and packed subway cars.
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