Oregon becomes 9th state to ban wildlife killing contests after unanimous vote by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission on September 15.
The wildlife killing contest award prizes for killing the most animals, smallest, and many other categories. It is devastating to the species and numerous hunters who don’t participate call it “unethical”.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is hard at work to end these ruthless contests. They announced the victory in Oregon on Facebook and wrote, “During these events, hundreds of coyotes are lured, shot, and dumped like trash for cash and prizes. Our undercover investigation exposed these sickening acts and we led a coalition to put a stop to this cruelty!”
They aren’t stopping there…
The HSUS is continuing to fight for wildlife and pushing for all states to ban wildlife killing contests.
“We’re going state by state to outlaw these games and won’t stop fighting to save the lives of innocent coyotes.”
They are joined by a dozen other wildlife organizations like Project Coyote. The non-profit organization shared the good news with their supporters. “Today the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife sent a strong message that they will no longer tolerate cruel and wasteful treatment of their state’s wildlife,” said Renee Seacor, carnivore conservation advocate for Project Coyote, “During an extinction crisis, with wildlife populations around the world plummeting, indiscriminate killing of wildlife for prizes is ethically indefensible, ecologically reckless and runs counter to sound 21st century wildlife management.”
Project Coyote is setting their sights on making Illinois the next state to ban wildlife killings.
Oregon joins Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington.
According to HSUS, New York has legislation in the works to end wildlife killings as well.
Sadly, there are still several states holding these cruel contests, like Virginia.
Virginia has hosted more than 60 killing contests that target coyotes and other wildlife for cash and prizes since 2015.
What you can do
Support ‘Fighting for Wildlife’ by donating as little as $1 – It only takes a minute. Thank you.
Fighting for Wildlife supports approved wildlife conservation organizations, which spend at least 80 percent of the money they raise on actual fieldwork, rather than administration and fundraising. When making a donation you can designate for which type of initiative it should be used – wildlife, oceans, forests or climate.
This article by Andrea Powell was first published by The Animal Rescue Site. Lead Image: Pexels / Benjamin Farren.
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