They’re Still Killing Wolves: Why We Fight On

A Martin Luther King Jr. Day Reflection on Justice and the Innocent

Tomorrow we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose life was devoted to protecting the vulnerable and speaking truth to power. His words ring as true for wildlife as they do for any struggle for justice: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

And right now, injustice is threatening wolves across America.

The Killing Contest Is Happening RIGHT NOW

This weekend. Today. As you read this.

Coyotes are dying in cruel traps. Dogs are being used to chase down terrified animals. Night vision technology and thermal imaging—tools that turn killing into a video game with live victims—are being deployed for “sport.”

Whole families of animals are being wiped out for nothing. No food. No protection. Just violence dressed up as recreation.

And it’s wrapping up today.

These people don’t need to kill. They like to kill. There’s a difference, and we need to stop pretending there isn’t.

We’re Not Saying Animals Matter More

Let’s be clear: we don’t value animal life over human life.

We believe we’re all walking together on this planet, trying to navigate this world the best we can—humans, wolves, coyotes, all of us.

What we reject is the idea that human desires for entertainment justify causing suffering to innocent beings. What we challenge is a system that treats living, feeling creatures as targets in a blood sport.

Compassion isn’t a hierarchy. Justice isn’t a competition.

One Movement, One Enemy: Environmental Justice IS Justice

Dr. King understood something that many environmental organizations still refuse to acknowledge: we’re all fighting the same systems of oppression.

The same forces that exploit communities of color are the ones destroying our ecosystems. The same corporate interests that poison water in Flint are lobbying to strip protections from wolves. The same political corruption that denies environmental justice to vulnerable human communities is the corruption killing wildlife for profit and sport.

This isn’t separate work. It’s the same fight.

Dr. King himself recognized the interconnectedness of all life. While his public work focused on civil rights, he spoke about reverence for all living beings and the loyalty and faithfulness he saw in his own dog, Toppel. His legacy lives on through his children—both Dexter Scott King and Yolanda King became vegans and animal rights advocates, understanding that the circle of compassion must include all who suffer.

Voices Carrying the Torch

Black environmental leaders and scientists have been at the forefront of understanding these connections:

• Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, large carnivore ecologist and National Geographic Explorer, studies how human communities and wildlife can coexist, challenging the false narrative that conservation means choosing between people and animals.
• Dr. Camille Dungy, environmental writer and poet, speaks to how environmental destruction and racial injustice are intertwined, both rooted in systems that devalue life.
• Leah Thomas, intersectional environmentalist, explicitly connects social justice and environmentalism, arguing that you cannot have a healthy planet without addressing systemic oppression.

These leaders understand what Dr. King knew: liberation is indivisible. You cannot protect the vulnerable by ignoring any form of suffering. You cannot claim to fight for justice while turning away from innocents being slaughtered.

And the Federal Threat Continues

While killing contests happen in real time, HR 845 has passed the House and is moving to the Senate—federal legislation that would strip away Endangered Species Act protections and open the door to trophy hunting, trapping, and state-sanctioned slaughter of wolves across the country.

Think about that. In 2026, we’re still fighting to keep innocent animals alive.

It’s insane. But it’s our reality.

This Sunday: Match Your Impact

This weekend, we’re holding an emergency fundraising push to fuel the fight ahead. Every dollar donated this Sunday will be matched, doubling your impact for wolves and all the animals caught in the crosshairs.

Here’s what we’re up against RIGHT NOW:

• Federal legislation threatening to delist wolves nationwide
• January legislative hearings in Wisconsin on expanded trophy hunting (including sandhill cranes)
• Appellate court challenges to corrupted state wolf management plans
• Ongoing documentation of the dark money networks manipulating wildlife policy
• Killing contests happening this very weekend

We don’t have foundation backing. We don’t compromise. We don’t play nice with the trophy hunting lobby.

We just fight. Because someone has to.

On King’s Legacy

Dr. King understood that the arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend toward justice on its own. People have to bend it.

Every day, we’re bending that arc for wolves—in courtrooms, in legislative hearings, in communities across the Great Lakes region, and in the hearts and minds of people who are finally waking up to what’s being done in their name.

The animals we fight for are innocent. They deserve advocates who won’t quit, won’t compromise, and won’t look away.

Animal rights isn’t a distraction from justice work—it’s an essential part of the movement. As long as we accept that some lives don’t matter, that some suffering is acceptable, that some innocents can be exploited for profit or pleasure, we’ll never achieve true justice for anyone.

Help Us Keep Fighting

This Sunday, make your donation count twice.

Every dollar goes directly to:

• Legal challenges stopping wolf hunts
• Legislative advocacy against delisting
• Educational programs with Luna, our wolf ambassador
• Investigative research exposing corruption
• Grassroots campaigns building public opposition

We’ve saved over 200 wolves through court injections. We’ve stopped hunts. We’ve changed minds.

But the fight is far from over.

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In Dr. King’s words: “The time is always right to do what is right.”

For wolves and all innocent lives, that time is now.

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P.S. — Share this post. Forward it to someone who cares. The trophy hunting lobby has millions. We have truth, determination, and people like you. Sometimes, that’s enough to win.