Animal rights groups sue to stop Wisconsin wolf hunt

By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A coalition of animal rights groups has filed a lawsuit to stop Wisconsin’s wolf hunt this fall. Animal Wellness Action, the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance and Protect Coyote filed the action Tuesday. The lawsuit comes after the state Department of Natural Resources board this month set the quota for the fall hunt at 300 animals, disregarding pleas from multiple groups to cancel the season after hunters blew past their kill quota during a messy spring season. The DNR set the limit in February at 119 animals but hunters killed 218, angering conservationists and animal rights groups. The lawsuit asks a judge to halt the fall season and invalidate a state law mandating an annual hunt.