More Action Needed To Stop Wildlife Killing Districts
- Brian Posewitz
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
A bill to help fund the killing of "predatory" animals appears to be moving forward in the Oregon Legislature. Please contact your state legislators right away (before Wednesday if possible) and ask them to oppose House Bill 2403.
HB 2403 would allow formation of "predator damage control districts" to collect money from property owners for spending on "predator control." Animals targeted with the money could include bears, cougars, wolves, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, beavers, and several other species.
Money raised by the districts would help pay for operation in Oregon of the federal "Wildlife Services" program - a program known for cruel and unnecessary killing of wildlife. (See 'That's a bloodbath': How a federal program kills wildlife for private interests, NPR investigation (2024); Exposed – USDA’s Secret War on Wildlife (short documentary film); The Rogue Agency, Harper’s Magazine (2016).)
In the year ending in June 2023 (the most recent year for which data has been published), Wildlife Services killed 124,826 wild animals in Oregon, including 237 bears, 3,202 coyotes, 114 mountain lions, and 80 red foxes, using methods including neck and leg snares, steel-jawed leghold traps, and shooting animals from helicopters and planes; and 55 coyote and red fox dens, where young pups are kept, were gassed. Wildlife Services kills coyotes indiscriminately as part of a general population reduction instead of focusing on any specific animals causing problems.
Legislators should not be approving programs to give Wildlife Services more money to do even more cruel killing, especially when science increasingly shows that killing animals such as cougars and coyotes doesn’t work to reduce human-wildlife conflict and may even make it worse. (See Evidence Does Not Support Hunting As A Way To Control Cougars: Study, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Feb. 24, 2020; Killing Coyotes Is Not As Effective As Once Thought, Researchers Say, National Public Radio (2019).)
HB 2403 has a "work session" scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 9, and is then expected to move to the full House of Representatives for a vote. We need people who care about animals to contact both their state representative and their state senator and ask them to oppose this bad bill. If you don't already know who your state representative and senator are, you can type in your address here and get their names and email addresses. (You have one state senator and one state representative - the first two names that appear in the search results.)
Be sure to include in the first line of your message that you are a "constituent," meaning you live in their district. It's best to use your own words, but a suggested message is:
"I am one of your constituents. Please oppose House Bill 2403. This bill would allow formation of special taxing districts to raise money for killing wildlife only because the animals might damage private property. House Bill 2403 would not require recipients of the money to use, or even consider using, nonlethal alternatives that don't require killing the animals. The money raised would go to the federal "Wildlife Services" program, which is known for cruel and unnecessary killing of wildlife as its preferred method of dealing with human-wildlife conflicts. Oregon should focus instead on finding peaceful ways to co-exist with wildlife."
Thank you for helping us advocate for animals!