Idaho AG Asked to Investigate Controversial Trapping Photos

Nez Perce National Forest employee Josh Bransford poses with a wolf trapped in north Idaho

Grisly images, depicting a badly injured wolf captured in north Idaho, have gone viral. Posing alongside the animal is a grinning Josh Bransford, an employee of the Nez Perce National Forest. The pictures, which surfaced on the Web in March, continue to stir fierce debate over an already-emotional topic. And now, some environmental groups are asking for a formal investigation into possible animal cruelty.

The Moscow-based Friends of the Clearwater and the Portland-based Center for Biological Diversity have banded together to ask Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Forest Service to look into the incident and the images.

The pictures were reportedly posted to the website trapperman.com. An accompanying description indicates that the wolf was trapped and shot by someone other than Bransford.

“The egregious torture of a wolf needs to be investigated by Idaho’s attorney general and the Forest Service,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “And Josh Bransford should be fined or dismissed from his position.”

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43 Comments

  1. this is just another balless puke who thinks he’s a real man, but we all know he really likes men !!!! don’t we trapper BOY!!!!

  2. He should LOOSE his position & PAY a fine for his Heartless actions! Someone in his position should Love & Protect the Animals, NOT TORTURE them!
    He is NOT A MAN!
    May the God & Goddess have NO Mercy on him as they Ravage him!

    • yes i believe the images are graphic…and ar ewrong to some people…but if you truly live wilf life u would understand that what the wolves do to the more beautiful animals… you would know the wolves need to go

      • The wolves do not need to go, their polutation remains near endangerment as they are continuously hunted. By removing wolves, other big game populations explode which shortens the amount of food that other inhabitants are able to require. The wolves balance the ecosystem. You are too ignorant to understand that

    • I can’t agree with you more. These animals were reintroduced in the wild by the government only to be brought down by the government? What’s the sense in that? “Oh, we only want just a few to keep around, to live naturally in nature.” For what purpose? Governmental Entertainment? Make this dude eat the raw, rotting meat of that poor wolf…as done by other animal, naturally in nature.

  3. Nice job! Don’t listen to the fools out there. They do not understand, They do not live here. They see an animal being hurt, but they do not know the damage that too many wolves cause to the eco-system here.

    • The wolves “do damage to the ecosystem.” Such as? Polluting water? No. Exhausting natural resources? No. Killing other species into extinction? No.

      Do they sometimes kill ranch cattle? Yes – when they are hungry. Ranch cattle are the most environmentally-expensive protein source on the planet, and should be phased out. If you don’t know how to deal with the other life on the planet where you live, then maybe you shouldn’t live there.

      Let’s see: wolves: endangered.
      Humans: too many.
      Cattle: Wasteful/expensive source of protein.

      I vote you & your cows off.

  4. Tree hugging pansies should STFU and quit whining. Trapping has gone on for years and will continue, long after the tree hugging era has passed. If you people can’t handle the reality of trapping game, take a few more hits from your deity bong and hug some more trees.

    I’d bet if that wolf had fought another near their neighborhood, and bled out like that picture, the “huggers” would be calling the Department of Fish and Game demanding the other wolf be put down due to it’s viciousness. Praise Jeebus!

    • Ah…another Cro-Magnon who thinks that cruelty is justified. I hope you get the chance in this life to learn that -on the receiving end.

      No decent human being tortures his prey. having empathy for any other creature that can feel pain isn’t tree-hugging, you ethical and moral vacuum.

  5. This man should be dismissed from his job and never be allowed to work in an animal related environment again. This is sick and saddens my heart to see someone do this to a beautiful creature who is just as deserving of life as we are. I hope that this will be brought to justice soon and all forms of torture like this will be made illegal. My heart goes out to this wolf and all others who have suffered an undeserved fate

  6. My sensibilities and heart hurts for all of us who feel helpless in changing our world. I don’t think we will ever really get it as human beings what we are doing to animals and the environment. It deeply saddens me.

  7. This is getting ridiculous! Animals do have rights just as we do! Torturing this animal was completely unnecessary and barbaric. This man should lose his job and face a hefty fine for his actions. Trapping, in my opinion is torture!

  8. Josh Bransford has his rights. You folks can not tell him how to think or behave no more than I or Bransford can tell you to think or behave. What Josh did is no worse than what I’ve seen wolves do. I have seen wolves eat their prey while the prey is still alive watching and feeling the pain of being eaten alive. There is a slooow death!

    Josh Bransford and where he works is none of your business. This is America, not North Korea.

  9. I can’t believe someone in this mans position would torture a wolf like this!!! Just because wolves have a bad reputation in some places doesn’t mean you have to kill them. I love wolves and I would never hurt an animal even if I didn’t like them. Any way it’s not the wolves fault, they only do what they need to in order to survive.

  10. Pingback: U.S. Forest Service Employee Under Fire for Photographing Wounded Gray Wolf Before Killing it « The Wolf Preservation Blog

  11. How anyone, let alone a forest service employee, can sit grinning while watching an animal dying in agony is disgusting and beyond comprehension. He has obviously chosen the wrong profession and should be fired immediately.

  12. While this act may appear to be hurtful, uncaring and gratuitous, the simple fact of the matter is that since the Gray Wolf has been taken off the endangered species list, the animal has multiplied. While these animals are cute and cuddly when looking at their photos, they are NOT a domesticated animal and they WILL kill you or painfully maim you. That said, this forest worker could have shown the animal the respect that it deserves. Trapping animals is painful but so is shooting them, which option is more “animal friendly”? This worker should at the very least be disciplined and perhpas receive time off from work for his lack of professionalism, but fired? The Creator gave us animals to live with, to love and when necessary to eat. While some people may find that offensives, so be it.

  13. Odd that a person does a completely legal act of trapping a wolf, takes pictures and exercises his first amendment right and posts them and people call for his termination and to pay a fine because he did something (legal) that they did not like.

    Then they call for the animals rights but are willing to totally forgo his rights.

    Humans!

    • I totally agree with you regarding the legality of the situation. Having been an avid trapper myself when younger though I can tell you that when I had an animal in a trap that was still alive when I arrived. I would always quickly put it down. Would not have thought of taking a picture like that while it was still alive.

    • Our Grandfathers and great grandfathers made this country safe for us and now cause we continue to follow in their foot steps we are not human .I would like to know when did an animal have more rights than a human. Thank you for speacking out for this person we need more people backing him.

  14. Odd that he is condemmed for a completely legal act of trapping the wolf and then posting the pictures (first amendment right) and he is targeted for termination and a fine because others don’t like what he did.

    They call for animal rights but disregard his rights.

    Humans!

    • There’s a difference between trapping/hunting and downright animal cruelty. The pictures itself go against the spirit of hunting. While I don’t believe he should lose his job, I think he should be ineligible for hunting/trapping licenses until he goes back through some kind of training system. In addition, he should be removed from any kind of duties in his job that relates to trapping or any animal related activities until he goes back through training for the Forest Service or whatever agency he works for.

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    • Ok enough said now let’s switch the role. Say this wolf came into your neighborhood and took a child because it was hungry. Wolf wound up having his meal, how many of you would say then Oh the wolf has rights to find prey to feed upon. How many of you who are so into animal right get into a search party and hunt that wolf down and kill that same wolf.

      • the chances of a wolf ever attacking a kid is very slim they’d rather eat your chicken or cow first who comes up with this stuff

  16. Pingback: Wolf Hunt Debate Reignited after Forest Service Employee in Idaho takes picture of wounded Wolf before shooting it. - Stormfront

  17. Traps are always cruel and inhumane – they should be outlawed!!! If a person wants to trap animals then they should have to experience being caught in a trap themself before being permitted to trap animals.

  18. I would love to do the same thing to people that they do to animals. In this case, trap his leg in a steel trap out in the snow for a couple of days. Or throw the person off the bridge who through a dog off the bridge into the Ohio River near Louisville, KY.

  19. As a Montana rancher who believes in controlling wildlife, including wolves, I am disgusted by the character of Josh Bransford. As a former Army Special Forces soldier…our unit has dispatched many a bad and cruel person…..but we did not torture and relish in taking of the quarry pictures prior to the kill. It is against Idaho law to exhibit cruelty to animals……..the State of Idaho needs to be sued if this individual is not held responsible….fined and imprisoned. It places the trapping industry at a new low.

  20. As an employee of the Forest Service I will say this. This act has nothing to do with his job, and he should be respected for his civil service and duty to the US Government. maybe not the best practices of conservation i have seen, but get off your soap boxes and mind your own business. Wolves are not humane, and torture inoocent prey all the time. I have watched time and time again.

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