S.B. 1305 is savage and inhumane.

Dogs could soon be used to lure wolves in Idaho as an effort to kill off the wolves that attack livestock under Idaho Senate Bill 1305, introduced by State Sen. Jeff Siddoway (R-Terreton).

Wolves were protected by the Endangered Species Act until December 2011. Wolves are now off that list because their population in North America has improved. However, their removal from the endangered species list makes it no longer illegal to kill a wolf.

Under the measure, if a wolf killed livestock, the rancher could hunt down the wolf and kill it without a permit within 30 days of the livestock attack, even though most people can't tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote.

The proposed legislation would allow ranchers to use a number of different ways to kill the wolves, like using live bait to bring the wolf to a particular area to be killed. Domestic dogs, sheep and goats are some of the examples cited of what could be used as live bait.

Being used as bait would be a terrifying experience for a dog, and, physiologically, it could kill them. It's known that animals under these conditions lose weight, they stop eating, and frequently die from stress-related ailments..

The legislation would also allow ranchers to use a number of different ways to kill the wolves, including the use of night-vision scopes to shoot the wolves and even the use of an airplane to shoot the animals from the air.