Sarah Palin Makes New Enemy: Ashley Judd

Actor And Animal Rights Activist Wants An End To Alaska's Predator Control Program

(AP)  An animal rights group is getting help from actress Ashley Judd in its campaign to try to stop Alaska's practice of killing wolves and bears from airplanes.

Judd appears in a new Internet video for Defenders of Wildlife, and targets not only the state's predator control program but also one of the program's chief supporters, Gov. Sarah Palin.

"It's time to stop Sarah Palin and stop this senseless savagery," Judd says in the video posted on a Web site operated by the political arm of the group, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, countered that the program is scientifically based and an important tool to sustain moose and caribou populations for Alaska subsistence hunters.

In Alaska, private citizens are permitted to shoot wolves from the air or conduct land-and-shoot hunting of wolves in rural areas. Defenders of Wildlife says more than 800 wolves have been killed since the program began almost five years ago.

Along with Judd's videotaped segment, the animal rights group asks for donations to help end the predator control program, possibly through federal legislation.

Palin said it was "reprehensible and hypocritical" that the group would use the state and her administration as a fundraising tool.

It's not the first time Defenders of Wildlife has targeted Palin. Last fall, when Palin was John McCain's running mate, it ran ads in several states denouncing Palin and the predator control program, and raised more than $1 million. Judd had campaigned for President Barack Obama during the campaign.

[get-over-it]

All you city folk need to just GET OVER IT!!! You dont live with wild animals in your back yard so you have NO idea what this is like. You also just run to the store and buy meat, so again, GET OVER IT! Us country folk KILL or grow the food we eat. We need to so we can survive. You dont live here, so you have absolutley no right to tell us how we deal with our wildlife population. I dont go into your city and demand that you change, so stay out of our country life!!!! Every year, the state has paid sharp shooters go and kill THOUSANDS of deer, wild pig, wolves, coyotes, and anything else they may pose a threat. Its not only a way of preditor control, but its also a way of disease control. You ever see an animal slowly die of rabies or distemper? A bullet in the head is a LOT more humane that dying slowley. You ever been contacted by the a game warden and warned to get your children in the house because dangerous animals are close? Ever felt that FEAR??? Have you EVER lost prize animals to mountain lions, bears, or wolves? NO? Then BACK OFF!

I woder if the "wolves in sheeps clothing" that are trying so hard to tear Sarah Palin apart stop to consider what they are doing? Words can be as lethal as a gun. So can actions. I am aware every one has a right to their opinion and so it should be. Are they going to tear me apart if I say I do not think Barack Obama is fit to be President of the United States.At least Sarah would not hesitate to present a valid birth certificate, nor does she try to conceal her university records .I keep reading all these posts in various papers,magazines,etc... about how Mr. Obama does!!

I think there are an awful lot of people who have not done their homework where Sarah Palin is concerned. She is one smart lady and I believe the future will so show. I also think if people are going to judge how something like controlling the wolf population is handled in Alaska, they should first go there and live for a few yrs. and see how they like it.A wolf, when hungry can kill a human being for food, or so I have been told. I wonder if Ashley Judd would care to check that out and see if it is true? Would the wolf let her live because she thinks it should?? I don't think so. The people of Alaska should have the right to do what is necessary for survival!!!

[magoo2u1]

Hmmmmm. I think that Alaskans need to be concerned that the program could be expanded to include the shooting of idiots from the air or from cars. If this program is not stopped and the practice of shooting undesirable creatures from the air expands it could cause large shortages of workers, managers and politicians. I have a list with 15 names on it that I would buy tickets for and send them to Alaska on safari.
AS for wolves. So long as the Game and wildlife people say they aren't over killing and putting them in jeopardy - Who cares? We thin the deer herd by shooting them every fall. I think the protesters should all don Wolf skins and go into the forest for a sit in.

[DarthJoe8]

I'm a hunter and where I'm from hunting out of a vehicle is against the law. Hunting from a helicopter is a joke, that's not hunting that's killing something. Big difference.

[dnvigerjr]

Sarah Palin may be a lightweight as a Presidential prospect, and surely caused McCain additional credibility gaps when he chose her over Mitt Romney, a very smart, articulate, Harvard MBA and Harvard Law degreed former Governor, problem solver at the Winter Olympics, empire builder with Bain Capital, someone this Country really needed and still does, but when equally lightweight Hollywood dabblers try to use mere acting and their celebrity status as some sort of credential for being an authority on Alaskan predator laws, that is equally comical and non-sensical.

These poor and indigenous Alaskan people who need pelts and food for survival in what is still a wilderness outback should be able to kill their moose and wolves in reasonable numbers that don't appreciably threaten the overall health and survival of Alaskan wolves or Moose or Carribu. I don't hunt or like the idea, but I am not in Alaska and dependent on that for my survival. Ashley Judd needs to focus on her acting instead of areas she knows nothing about.

[Frostythewolfe]

RE: Thankfully Ashley Judd has come to the defense of innocent animals being slaughtered.
Sarah Palin has a tough hide, does not comprehend that she is the problem, not those who have been around her. We can thank McCain for bringing her "on board" so she could be exposed for what she is, and we would see the light and be sure to elect Obama to the Presidency. Hopefully Obama will help bring an end to the unsportmanship hunting in Alaska. Certainly the people of Alaska could do better than Sarah Palin in office!

[jdharman]

Clearly the left-wing nutjobs here can''t read or comprehend that not everyone lives in suurbs and drives a sporty little Prius. The wolves COMPETE with people for FOOD. The people kill moose and caribou up there to SURVIVE, not for SPORT you idiots. Wolves are taking the food out fo their mouths. Ergo the state authorizes people to kill the wolves as efficiently as possible to save the caribou for food for the humans. Of course, all of this is apparently beyond the ken of liberal nitwits, so what''s the use of explaining..

Of course, the humans really don''t count for much in the Left''s calculations..."The People" do, whatever that is, but not real-life human beings..

[jobub]

Animal control is the issue here I believe. I live in a rural area where every night someone hits a deer. Do the animal rights activists complain about that. NO. If the caribou and the wolves are overpopulatd or causing harm, then shoot all you want. I think Ashley Judd needs to remember where she came from and keep her perky a!s nose out of it.

[cepe10-2009]

I have to say this aerial hunt is about as unsportmanlike and cowardly as it gets. Palin like always is the ultimate red neck coward and hypocrite and I mean red neck in a bad way not the good way. Too bad these losers who participate in these hunts can''t be tarred and feathered in public.

[jkhagemann]

Sarah Palin is mentally ill. I hope she gets help soon!

Kevin

[jkhagemann]

Well... this woman is not presidential! She belongs in the woods. What a loser... my God Mcain should be shot for such a mistake! What a loser Palin is!

[alaskana]

I grew up in the area of Alaska that the aerial wolf hunts were first permitted. This is an old issue that the outside interest groups need to continue using as a platform for their fundraising strategy.

Give it a rest. These groups do not live in Alaska, will not be welcomed in Alaska and should mind their own business.

The people of the region that these hunts take place largely rely on subsistence hunting, fishing, and gathering for their sustenance. The price of milk is ofter more than $8/gallon (if sold at the local store at all). The prices of beef, chicken, etc. is $7+/pound. Additionally, the price of heating fuel can be more that $8/gallon. Finally, the economy and job opportunities in remote villages are minimal at best.

I think it is irresponsible and ignorant that Ashley Judd does not do her homework before signing her name to an initiative she knows little to nothing about.

Shame on you.

[centerfall94]

Palin is disgusting. It doesn''t take much to imagine her drenched in blood and raking entrails out of a moose, foul creature that she is. The Witch of Wasilla is aptly named.

[kittykatty2]

TravisDA...does DA stand for dumb a sss?

[andie52]

"Governor Palin, disappointed with the efforts of aerial hunting in 2007, offered the $150 bounty for wolf paws. State officials'' aspired to the killing of 382 to 664 wolves during the 2007 predator-control season. However, 115 wolves were killed, and Sarah Palin felt that the gunners had come up short.

It was Sarah Palin''s hope that the $150.00 cash bounties on wolf paws would make the predator-control season more successful, if you will. However, Gordon Haber (the wildlife scientist and observer of wolves for 43 years) had this to offer: "I can tell you from my own research that the reason they didn''t get many wolves in certain years, particularly last winter, is because they have scraped those areas clean."

http://savethewolvesnow.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-wolf-expert.html

So if you don''''t kill wolves, they kill the caribou. Then the wolves starve.

Posted by TravisDA1 at 02:44 PM : Feb 06, 2009

That''s how it is supposed to occur. It''s been occurring that way naturally for thousands of years!!

[travisda1]

So if you don''t kill wolves, they kill the caribou. Then the wolves starve. In Princeton NJ, the eco-lovers demanded contraception for deer and bears, instead of hunting. Doesn''t work that way.

Really, these are issues best left to people who, forgive me for saying, actually have a clue about the food chain. Alaska''s policies help maintain this, and some people rely on caribou meat like city-folk need hamburger.

It would appear that for some people, the mere fact that Palin does something sends them in a blind rage the other way. That''s no way to think about the world. If you are that in-love with one political party (ANY party), you have my deepest sympathies and hope for a speedy recovery.

[travisda1]

So if you don''t kill wolves, they kill the caribou. Then the wolves starve. In Princeton NJ, the eco-lovers demanded contraception for deer and bears, instead of hunting.

Really, these are issues best left to people who, forgive me for saying, actually have a clue about the food chain. Alaska''s policies help maintain this, and some people rely on caribou meat like city-folk need hamburger.

It would appear that for some people, the mere fact that Palin does something sends them in a blind rage the other way. That''s no way to think about the world. There''s plenty of spin on both sides. If you are that in-love with one political party, you have my deepest sympathies, and hope for a speedy recovery.

It''''s cowardly to shoot animals from airplanes. What person with their head on straight would do such a dastardly thing to ANY animal?!

Posted by mahdeealoo at 12:39 PM : Feb 06, 2009

NRA and Republican nut-jobs.

They think it''s fun.