Stop the War on Wildlife

Wildlife Services (formerly Animal Damage Control) is a program of the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Every year, Wildlife Services spends millions of dollars to kill thousands of predators%u2014coyotes, wolves, bears, mountain lions, and many others%u2014as a subsidy for the livestock industry. The animals are shot, poisoned, gassed, snared, and caught in leghold traps. Wildlife Services programs operate on both private and public lands.

Wildlife Services policies and procedures have been questioned almost since the inception of the program. Although livestock damage is a valid concern, Wildlife Services also kills animals for eating flowers and pet food, digging in gardens, frightening people, and other concerns that could easily be addressed by nonviolent methods. And Wildlife Services runs programs to control bird damage, primarily in the eastern U.S. and at airports, as well as programs to remove damaging non-predatory wildlife.

In addition, Wildlife Services wastes millions of taxpayer dollars by spending far more to kill predators than the actual damage those predators cause. Scientific proof that Wildlife Services practices control livestock damage is markedly lacking.

Despite the opposition of environmentalists and a series of scathing advisory reports over the years, Wildlife Services has survived and prospered, primarily as a pet program of the powerful livestock industry. In recent years, Wildlife Services has been branching out to increase its programs to remove wildlife from urban areas and to promote itself to the public and to schools and other organizations.

Please go to the following link to contact your representatives:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Please go to the following link to contact your senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Wildlife Services (formerly Animal Damage Control) is a program of the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Every year, Wildlife Services spends millions of dollars to kill thousands of predators%u2014coyotes, wolves, bears, mountain lions, and many others%u2014as a subsidy for the livestock industry. The animals are shot, poisoned, gassed, snared, and caught in leghold traps. Wildlife Services programs operate on both private and public lands.

Wildlife Services policies and procedures have been questioned almost since the inception of the program. Although livestock damage is a valid concern, Wildlife Services also kills animals for eating flowers and pet food, digging in gardens, frightening people, and other concerns that could easily be addressed by nonviolent methods. And Wildlife Services runs programs to control bird damage, primarily in the eastern U.S. and at airports, as well as programs to remove damaging non-predatory wildlife.

In addition, Wildlife Services wastes millions of taxpayer dollars by spending far more to kill predators than the actual damage those predators cause. Scientific proof that Wildlife Services practices control livestock damage is markedly lacking.

Despite the opposition of environmentalists and a series of scathing advisory reports over the years, Wildlife Services has survived and prospered, primarily as a pet program of the powerful livestock industry. In recent years, Wildlife Services has been branching out to increase its programs to remove wildlife from urban areas and to promote itself to the public and to schools and other organizations.

Please go to the following link to contact your representatives:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Please go to the following link to contact your senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

However, the reality is that most Wildlife Services methods are nonselective, in the sense that they will also kill many animals apart from the ones actually doing the damage. Coyotes are the predator killed in the greatest number by Wildlife Services - approximately 75,000 to 90,000 coyotes are killed every year by Wildlife Services%u2014vastly more than are reported as problems.

Also in 2006 an audit conducted by the USDA Office of Inspector General found that biological agents and toxins used by Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to kill wildlife they consider a nuisance are poorly safeguarded. (Wildlife Services is a branch of APHIS.) The audit faulted the agency for: 1) failing to keep accurate inventories of agents or toxins, 2) not restricting access to agents or toxins, and 3) not having complete security plans. Auditors visited 10 of 75 registered entities where agents are kept and found that none of the 10 complied with security regulations.

Please consider opposing this program and replacing it with a program that will be more humane and have less biological impacts on our enviroment. There are currently different programs being used in several states that are testing non-lethal methods of population control and are having great success with them.

Thank you very much for taking time to read this letter and considering stopping the war on Americas wildlife.