PLEASE HELP US TO STOP THE SENSELESS SLAUGHTER OF COYOTES IN UTAH

Utah taxpayers have been subsidizing coyote slaughter since 2012. Hunters are paid $50 bounties from a fund established by the "Mule Deer Protection Act" (Senate Bill 245). The fund tops out at $750,000 annually. 74,460 coyotes have been slaughtered since 2012 thanks to Utah tax dollars – that's an average of nearly 15 thousand dead coyotes every year!

Coyotes are killed by trapping, shooting and poisoning with no end in sight of this ethically indefensible and fiscally foolish bill. "Coyote hunting contests" are held annually "for entertainment" and even youngsters are invited to participate in the slaughter. Taxpayer money is being squandered for the "entertainment" of a minority while peer reviewed science proves mule deer decline is rooted in lack of adequate food sources, caused by climate change and human development.

Coyotes can live into their teens, but the average life span is now five years of age, because of targeted elimination. A newborn has less than a 50% chance of surviving its first year.

We demand Governor Herbert stop wasting taxpayer dollars supporting the barbaric practices of coyote trapping, and coyote killing contests and end coyote bounties immediately. PLEASE sign and help us stop this senseless slaughter.