JOIN STATE AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CALLING FOR
A STATEWIDE BAN ON WILDLIFE KILLING CONTESTS
The Young Farmers & Ranchers (YFR) 1st Annual Coyote Hunting Tournament is scheduled for November 30 – December 1 in Burns, OR—and Project Coyote is asking you to join numerous state and national conservation and animal welfare organizations in demanding cancellation of this event, as well as a ban on wildlife killing contests throughout the state of Oregon.
Your voice can make a difference!
Please see below for how you can help show your opposition to this event and to all wildlife killing contests.
Thank you for helping us create a more compassionate world for all creatures.
Katie Stennes
Programs & Communications Manager
HOW YOU CAN HELP
(and see talking points below)
Contact:
- Oregon Governor Kate Brown by email or phone (503-378-4582)
- Curt Melcher, Director, Oregon Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife (503-947-6044)
- Doug Cottam, Wildlife Division Administrator, Oregon Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife (douglas.f.cottam@state.or.us or 503-947-6312)
Write Letters to the Editor of local paper(s) to raise public awareness and to call for a statewide ban on wildlife killing contests:
(See our tips and tools for writing LTE’s.)
- Oregonian (no more than 250 words sent to letters@oregonian.com)
- Burns Times-Herald (editor@btimesherald.com)
- Bend Bulletin
Talking Points (please be respectful and personalize your message):
- Oregon should follow the lead of California and Vermont and ban the killing of coyotes and other wildlife for prizes and fun
- Coyote killing contests are conducted for profit, entertainment, prizes, and simply for the “fun” of killing.
- No evidence exists showing that indiscriminate killing contests serve any effective wildlife management function. Coyote populations that are not hunted or trapped form stable family groups that naturally limit populations. Indiscriminate killing of coyotes disrupts this social stability, resulting in increased reproduction and pup survival. Read more here and here.
- Coyotes play an important ecological role helping to maintain healthy ecosystems and species diversity. As the top carnivore in some ecosystems, coyotes provide a number of benefits including providing free rodent control and regulating the number of mesocarnivores (such as skunks, raccoons, and foxes), which in turn helps to boost ground and song bird abundance and biodiversity. Read more here.
- Coyote killing contests perpetuate a culture of violence and send the message to children that life has little value and that animals are disposable.
- Coyote killing contests put non-target wildlife, companion animals, and people at risk.
- Killing as many animals as possible conflicts with traditional fair-chase hunting values and contravenes science-based wildlife conservation principles and practices.
PLEASE SEE PROJECT COYOTE’S WILDLIFE KILLING CONTEST FACT SHEET FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Watch a 60-second trailer of Project Coyote’s documentary film, KILLING GAMES ~ Wildlife In The Crosshairs, here.
PLEASE SHARE THIS ALERT WITH OTHERS!
