“Extremely Cruel” Wildlife Killing Contests Exposed In Indiana and Texas
Coyotes, bobcats, and foxes are among the animals blasted with assault rifles, as ‘competitors’ are awarded cash prizes for hunting the heaviest or smallest animals.
Indiana Killing Contest 2020. Credit: HSUS.
A recent undercover investigation has revealed the "pointless slaughter of coyotes" who were shot with high-power assault rifles during wildlife killing contests across Indiana.
Investigators from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) attended the two-day event in Warren County, where dead coyotes were counted and weighed at the local fire department. Cash prizes were given out for the teams who shot the most coyotes, as well as for killing the heaviest and smallest coyote. In all, some sixty coyotes were slaughtered.
According to HSUS, the dead coyotes are simply left to rot in the woods, or thrown into large dumpsters, after the prizes have been awarded. Many of the younger coyotes are left orphaned and will often starve to death.
Indiana Killing Contest 2020. Credit: HSUS.
Samantha Morton, Indiana state director for HSUS, has described the killings as "an embarrassment to our state", and argues that coyotes - cousins to domestic dogs - play a vital role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
"There’s no sportsmanship in this depraved pastime. We urge the Indiana Natural Resources Commission to follow the lead of other states and ban these cruel wildlife killing contests", adds Morton.
So far, seven states, including Arizona and Washington, have banned such killing contests. However, it remains completely legal, and unregulated, in all other states. Indiana has already hosted two killing contests this year, and a third is planned for March.
The contests are most prevalent in the state of Texas, where around 50 contests take place each year. Here the shooting of other wildlife such as bobcats, foxes, and even mountain lions, is permitted.
During the first leg of the annual West Texas Big Bobcat Contest, held in San Angelo, over 600 teams competed to land the $45,000 first prize for killing the biggest bobcat.
Now, more than 50 national and state organizations, including HSUS, are working together as part of the National Coalition to End Wildlife Killing Contests.
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