Petition Update: Congress Introduces Legislation to Ban Wildlife Killing Contests
Each year thousands of native carnivores and other wildlife — including coyotes, foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, prairie dogs and even wolves — are killed during these competitions. This new legislation has the potential to end the killing on over 500 million acres of public land.
More than a dozen members of Congress have introduced landmark legislation to help protect wild animals in the United States. If passed, the Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests Act of 2022 will ban wildlife killing contests on over 500 million acres of public land.
The new legislation was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and other Congressional leaders,and would require the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service to enact regulations banning wildlife killing contests within a year.
“America’s wildlife all play a special role in the natural ecosystem and killing them for what some deem a ‘sport’ is both cruel and unnecessary,” Congressman Cohen said in a statement. “These contests serve no legitimate wildlife-management purpose and ending them is the right thing to do.”
Coyotes, foxes, and prairie dogs are among the thousands of native animals slaughtered every year, as ‘competitors’ are awarded cash prizes for categories such as hunting the heaviest or smallest animals. Whilst there are eight states that currently prohibit the killing contests, they remain fully legal in 42 other states, including New York.
“It’s time for us to end the mass slaughter contests of America’s wild carnivores once and for all,” said Stephanie Kurose, a senior policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The senseless killing of our most persecuted wildlife on public lands should have never been allowed. Congress should pass this legislation quickly so we can finally spare our native animals from these ruthless kill-fests.”
Last year in New York, an undercover investigation revealed that 118 coyotes alone were killed in a single contest. The undercover investigation revealed that during this contest even pregnant female coyotes were lured with bait, killed, mutilated, and then thrown in dumpsters.
The Species Unite community has also voiced their opposition, with more than 5,000 people signing our petition calling on Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Codes to support legislation to protect New York wildlife and end this cruelty in the state once and for all.
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The footage was reportedly recorded at Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York, where up to 22,000 dogs - mostly beagles - are being bred for animal experimentation.