57,000 say: stop using deadly predator poisons

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services agency is in dire need of reform-- particularly when it comes to killing predators, which play key ecological roles across the American landscape. Wildlife Services should change its outdated mode of operation to be more transparent, and scientifically and economically justified. The agency should also adopt an approach that emphasizes non-lethal practices to avoid and address problems. The new approach must put the public interest -- not a few private agricultural interests -- front and center.

Wildlife Services can immediately take a big step in the right direction by ceasing the use of two deadly predator poisons that are unnecessary, dangerous to people as well as animals, and environmentally destructive. Primarily used at the request of private livestock interests, these poisons not only waste taxpayers' money, they also damage publicly owned wildlife.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has the authority to stop this deadly practice.

That's why we just delivered more than 57,000 letters from NRDC members and activists to Secretary Vilsack, asking him to halt the use of these predator poisons by Wildlife Services. Specifically, NRDC and our members and activists are asking the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ban the use of the following poisons:

• Sodium cyanide is placed in spring-loaded devices topped with bait lures, known as M-44s. When an animal tugs on the bait, a spring shoots a pellet of sodium cyanide into the animal's mouth.

Most often used to kill coyotes, M-44s are indiscriminate and just as likely to kill non-problem animals -- those that haven't attacked livestock -- as "problem" animals. They embody what scientists have called the "sledgehammer approach" to predator management. Wildlife Services's approach to killing predators is large-scale and largely "preventative." Driving this heavy-handed approach is an outdated and scientifically unjustified philosophy that the fewer predators on the landscape the better, and that what is good for a few private agricultural interests is good for the public as a whole.

Making matters worse, M-44s kill hundreds of non-target animals each year, including wolves, badgers, bears, bobcats, foxes, dogs, birds, and even people's pets. And, according to EPA records, five Wildlife Services's employees and at least five unsuspecting citizens have been exposed to sodium cyanide after triggering devices or coming into contact with poisoned pets.

• Compound 1080, or sodium fluoroacetate is placed in collars, strapped onto the necks of sheep or goats, that spill the poison when punctured. Safety and security are the biggest problems with using this substance. Compound 1080 is so deadly it has been outlawed in two states, is used in only 11 states, and is banned in many other countries. There is no antidote to Compound 1080 exposure, and carcasses contaminated by the substance must be handled as hazardous waste.

Death by Compound 1080 is horrific, painful, and lengthy (usually between 3 and 15 hours). Exposure can result in cardiac failure, progressive failure of the central nervous system, or respiratory arrest following severe prolonged convulsions.

Especially disturbing is that Wildlife Services has never evaluated the true costs of these practices, in terms of threats to both human safety and publicly owned wildlife, against the perceived benefits accrued to a few private agricultural interests. This agency has been able to avoid public scrutiny, in large measure, because it is protected by big agriculture. It is also no accident that this agency has changed its name a dozen times since its inception over 100 years ago -- recently adopting an Orwellian name that sounds benign, or even positive for wildlife and the public interest.

Public pressure is building on USDA and Wildlife Services to end these old-fashioned and hazardous practices and to put the spotlight on an agency that has too long flown below the radar. Other conservation organizations, such as Wild Earth Guardians and Predator Defense, as well as numerous local grassroots groups, spend countless hours raising awareness about the damaging and wasteful practices of Wildlife Services, and demonstrating that more predator friendly approaches to resolving conflicts are practical and effective.

We hope the Agriculture Secretary will respond to our members' and activists' requests by banning sodium cyanide and Compound 1080. Following that action, the next steps for USDA are to take a long, hard look at Wildlife Services's other practices and to provide an opportunity for the public to decide what Wildlife Services programs and practices are truly in the public interest.

Comments