California residents, please sign our Petition to urge Mendocino County to terminate its lethal wildlife management contract with USDA’s Wildlife Services and to instead adopt a locally administered, humane and environmentally sound non-lethal wildlife management program!
Mendocino County Supervisors: Adopt the Non-lethal Alternative for Wildlife
Whereas: For decades, Mendocino County has contracted with the USDA’s Wildlife Services (WS) to kill thousands of wild animals including bears, mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes; and
Whereas: In 2014, a coalition of environmental and wildlife advocacy groups sued the County for failing to conduct an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to study the environmental impacts of the county’s contract with WS, and the County has now completed this EIR; and
Whereas: The action proposed by Mendocino County under this EIR is not only to renew their contract with WS, but to actually expand their lethal methods of wildlife control to include neck wringing, cervical dislocation and the use of CO2, all of which can cause extreme pain and suffering; and
Whereas: The draft EIR concluded that the County’s preferred alternative, which would maintain the contract with WS, could result in significant impacts on local mountain lion populations when compounded with other killing; and
Whereas: The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will be considering the issue of lethal versus non-lethal management of wildlife conflicts at their December 17th meeting,* which the public is encouraged to attend and voice their opinion on this matter; and
Whereas: The best available scientific research shows that killing predators to reduce predation on livestock is rarely necessary or effective, that non-lethal wildlife management methods and models are generally more cost effective and ecologically and ethically defensible;
Whereas: The proposed non-lethal alternative program will not preclude residents from protecting their livestock, property, health or safety; and
Whereas: As detailed in the “Non-lethal Program Alternatives” analyzed in the EIR, there are many cost-effective non-lethal methods to reduce livestock predation such as appropriate fencing, night-corrals, livestock guard animals, and Foxlights; and
Whereas: There are cost effective non-lethal methods, including education and exclusion for addressing small mammal conflicts;
Therefore, we the undersigned urge Mendocino County to terminate its lethal wildlife management contract with USDA’s Wildlife Services and to instead adopt a locally administered, humane and environmentally sound non-lethal wildlife management program.
* To be held at the Board of Supervisors chambers in the County Administration Center, 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah, CA, 95482 at 9:00 a.m.
