Tell the USDA: Protect Pets and Wildlife From Cyanide Land Mines
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program is taxpayer funded -- animal assassins paid with our money. The program kills millions of creatures every year at the behest of Big Ag and livestock owners, and one of its cruelest methods is M-44 cyanide land mines.
These sweet-smelling traps lure animals close to trigger them, then blast out a deadly dose of cyanide powder. A young male wolf in Oregon recently died this way. But M-44s don't just kill wild animals - pets and even children can trigger their poison. A family in Idaho is mourning the death of their 3-year-old Labrador retriever, Casey, who was with their son when he ran into an M-44 near the family home. When the land mine exploded, both Casey and the boy were sprayed with cyanide. Casey didn't survive.
These devices are indefensible.
Take action - tell the USDA to protect pets, people and wildlife by immediately banning the use of M-44 cyanide landmines.
I'm writing to urge you to immediately end the use of M-44 cyanide land mines. The cruel and indiscriminate devices are a threat to rare and imperiled wildlife, pets and people.
As I'm sure you're aware M-44 land mines have been responsible for the recent killings of a young male wolf in Oregon, a family dog in Idaho and two family dogs in Wyoming. The loss of even a single wolf in Oregon is a devastating blow to a population that's struggling to recover. In Idaho a teenage boy witnessed the excruciating death of his beloved dog when he inadvertently triggered an M-44 placed on land near his home. The teenager was also covered in deadly cyanide poison and is lucky not to have been killed himself.
These deaths are unacceptable - it's time for the USDA to swiftly ban the use of M-44 cyanide land mines to protect people, pets and wildlife.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
