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 Every year literally hundreds of thousands of our nation's most majestic animals - including wolves, coyotes, grizzly bears and mountain lions- are poisoned, trapped and gunned down by the government. We're spreading the message that we need to co-exist, not kill these beautiful animals. We're asking Congress to defund and provide congressional oversight on this rogue agency. Few taxpayers realize that we help fund an agency called "Wildlife Services', a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that wages a dirty war on America's wildlife. Between 2004 and 2011, Wildlife Services killed over 26 million animals purportedly to “protect” agribusiness or “bolster” hunting opportunities – a contention based on unsupported myths. The agency spends over $100 million each year on wildlife-killing actions. In FY 2010, Wildlife Services admitted it killed 5 million animals (but its numbers are suspect. In 2010, it belatedly claimed to have poisoned 4 million starlings, black birds, and others in 2009), including 112,781 mammalian carnivores such as coyotes, wolves, bobcats, cougars, badgers and bears.
In FY 2011, the agency claimed it killed fewer non-native starlings, but more native carnivores, for a total of 3.8 million reported animals. Many of their victims were unintended including household pets such as cats and dogs. The veracity of Wildlife Services’ kill numbers are suspect because it is politically expedient for them to under-report their total kills. One former agent stated that trappers routinely avoid counting non-target kills.
WildEarth Guardians is holding Wildlife Services accountable by:
By eliminating Wildlife Services, our native wildlife will have the freedom to roam and to shape the iconic landscapes that are our national treasures.
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WildEarth Guardians works to protect and restore wildlife, wild places and wild rivers in the American West.
