Stop Murdering Animals for Human Entertainment

Target: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Goal: Severely restrict wildlife killing contests throughout public lands in the U.S.

Wildlife killing contests are organized events during which people compete against one another to see who can kill the most or largest animals in a specified amount of time. Each year these competitions, also referred to as tournaments, result in the deaths of thousands of coyotes, wolves, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, and other wildlife. Many of these animals aren’t protected by U.S. legislation, and can often be killed in unlimited numbers. The removal of these important native species is not only saddening, but it also has devastating effects on the natural ecosystems which these, typically carnivorous, animals help to maintain. After the event has finished and the prize is won, animal carcasses are discarded as they are no longer useful to participants.

Competitors violate many fundamental aspects of hunting codes of conduct, and hunters lure animals to them using cruel methods. One particularly disturbing technique is the use of electronic calling devices that are meant to tempt foxes and coyotes into rifle range. These devices, which mimic the sounds of prey species or of a fox or coyote in distress, prey on the empathetic bonds these intelligent, social animals develop towards one another. These canids will typically move in the direction of the sound, eager to help a peer in need, and end up getting shot to death instead.

A new bill has been introduced to the House of Representatives this year that could change all of this. H.R.7398, the Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests Act of 2022, would prevent organizing, sponsoring, conducting, or participating in these types of wildlife killing contests on public lands throughout the U.S. It would also require that federal land managers, for instance the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service, enact regulations that would eliminate these contests within a year.

These wasteful, unnecessary killing competitions have already been banned in several states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington, who prohibit these events on state lands within their borders. Now, it is the rest of the U.S.’s turn. Sign this petition to end wildlife killing contests on public land in every state.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Representative Pelosi,

Wildlife killing contests are an extreme display of human greed and wastefulness. Thousands of beautiful coyotes, wolves, bobcats, prairie dogs, raccoons, mountain lions, foxes, and other wildlife are senselessly murdered in such contests each year, all for a small cash prize or bragging rights. After the contests, animals’ carcasses are discarded, thrown into landfills or left to rot. Competitors use inhumane methods to lure and trap animals, including the sounding of electronic calling devices that play recordings of animals in distress to attract foxes and coyotes. These intelligent animals capable of forming close bonds with peers falsely believe they are going to save a friend, and instead find themselves caught in a crossfire, forced to run for their lives.

Bill H.R.7398, the Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests Act of 2022, has recently been introduced to the House of Representatives. If this bill passes, the organizing, sponsoring, conducting, or participating in these types of wildlife killing contests on public land would be prohibited. Several states across the U.S, such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington, already prohibit these ruthless killing competitions on state territories within their borders.

We are now asking you, Ms. Pelosi, to end these competitions on all federal lands across the U.S.. These cruel competitions have no place in modern society.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program