We’re thrilled to report that Vermont Bill H.636, the bill that includes a ban on coyote killing contests, passed yesterday, after moving quickly through the Senate and the concurrence proceedings.
BUT H.636 STILL NEEDS YOUR HELP! Governor Phil Scott must sign the bill into law. We need your voices now more than ever to ensure that Governor Scott knows that this barbaric practice has no place in Vermont. Please call or email the Governor (or even better, call Governor Scott and follow up your call with an email) to express your support of H.636. Here are some talking points for your calls and emails; read our science letter here for more talking points (please be respectful and personalize your message):
- I am contacting you regarding H.636, and specifically the ban on coyote killing contests. I am asking you to please sign H.636 into law.
- 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. They provide free rodent control and as the top carnivore in some ecosystems, coyotes help to regulate the number of mesocarnivores (such as skunks, raccoons, and foxes), which in turn helps to boost ground and bird population abundance and diversity. Read more here.
- Coyote killing contests perpetuate a culture of violence and send the message to children that life has little value and that an entire species of animals is disposable.
- Coyote killing contests put non-target wildlife, companion animals, and people at risk.
- Killing as many animals as possible conflicts with fair-chase hunting values and with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation that guides state wildlife agencies.
Enormous thanks go to Rep. David L. Deen, who sponsored the bill; to Rep. Carol Ode, who helped write the bill; and to all of you who responded to our Action Alert and contacted your local legislator(s) to speak in support of this legislation.
We’ve come this far—despite strong opposition—and because of you, the finish line is in sight ~ We can do this!
Please share this Action Alert—and thank you for helping to protect Vermont’s coyotes from cruel killing contests!