On March 5, 2012, Windsor, Ontario's city council approved spending $80,000 of this year's budget on a skunk removal program. Advocates of the program made it clear that skunks will be trapped and killed rather than relocated. Ward 3 Coun. Fulvio Valentinis cited community complaints about "nuisance skunks" as a major reason for the decision.

Skunks are peaceful, harmless animals that provide ample warning before spraying in self-defense. In addition to being cruel, trapping skunks is ineffective as a long-term control solution -- the spike in their food supply (insects, rats and other small rodents) will encourage surviving skunks to breed and ultimately increase skunk populations.

Educating community members about yard sanitation and feeding wild animals would more effectively control the nuisance skunk problem without causing harm to skunks and other animals that may fall victim to the traps. Please sign the petition to convince Windsor's city council to end their skunk trapping program.

We, the undersigned, are concerned with Windsor City Council's decision to spend $80,000 of the city's budget on a skunk trapping program.

Skunks are peaceful, harmless animals that provide ample warning before spraying in self-defense. In addition to being cruel, trapping skunks is ineffective as a long-term control solution -- the spike in their food supply (insects, rats and other small rodents) will encourage surviving skunks to breed and ultimately increase skunk populations.

We believe that educating community members about yard sanitation and feeding wild animals would more effectively control the nuisance skunk problem without causing harm to skunks and other animals that may fall victim to the traps. Please reconsider your trapping plans in favor of cruelty-free, more effective skunk control methods. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.