California Bans Coyote Killing Contests

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Dogfighting and cockfighting are illegal in the United States, just ask Michael Vick. Until Wednesday, however, coyotes in California could be shot dead in a cruel, barbaric practice that would win them a lousy belt buckle. Animal activists are celebrating the ruling by the California Fish and Game Commission against wildlife-killing contests that offer prizes, said to be the first such ban in the country, the AP reports.

Coyote jumping at mice, a staple of their diet. Pic courtesy of aldf.org.

According to the mandate, no one can shoot dead a coyote, fox, bobcat, or other predator for any kind of reward, though people can still shoot these animals as part of a regular hunting routine. “Contest kills” involve competitors vying for cash or other prizes and “treat these living animals as disposable game pieces,” says the Humane Society. Many ranchers disagree: They blame the majority of their livestock deaths on coyotes, which the California Cattlemen’s Association says number 700,000 in that state alone, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

T he ranchers contend that encouraging such competitive hunts simply helps them manage the population. Conservationists, however, say that the management plan doesn’t have any science to back it up: When coyote pack leaders (usually the only males that mate) are killed, all the other males that don’t usually breed step up to the plate and cause exponential population growth. Add that fact to the accidental killing of migrating wolves in the area (wolves are often mistaken for coyotes) and a game warden who was injured during a fox-and-coyote hunt on Valentine’s Day to make the activity unconscionable to activists. “Killing coyotes or any wild animal as part of a contest or tournament is ethically indefensible, ecologically reckless, and counter to sound science,” the executive director of Project Coyote tells theChronicle.

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.

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