Opinions clash over wildlife control in Thunder Bay area

A debate is brewing over whether more wild animal control is needed in the municipality of Shuniah.

Dr. Jack Remus said wolves and lynx are getting more aggressive and pose a danger to pets and children.

"These animals ...have no fear of humans. It will be a tragic kind of thing."

Remus, who owns a summer property in Shuniah, stressed he was speaking as a "concerned grandparent and animal owner," not in hisrole as past-president and a director of the Thunder Bay Humane Society.

"The municipality has got to do something," he said. "People are... taking two year olds and three year olds around. They have to have a concern."

Shuniahreeve Maria Harding said wolves and lynx are part of life in the country.

A former pet owner herself, Harding sympathizes withresidents who have lost their cats and dogs to predators,but saidtrapping and culling wild animals is not the answer.

"We have to take into consideration that we live in the wild, we live in the bush," shesaid."We, as pet owners, have a responsibility to our pets. We don't just open up the door and let them go out. That's my personal opinion."

But Remus doesn't accept that view.

"There is a danger that has come," he said. "What are we going to do about it? Does it come to the point where everybody has to arm themselves?"

Remus said he plans to lobby for action until something is done about the situation.He suggested options could include trapping or shooting predatory animals.