Trump Admin Reauthorizes Wildlife Killing Cyanide Bombs

​worldanimalnews.com/breaking-trump-administration-reauthorizes-wildlife-killing-m-44-cyanide-bombs-despite-strong-opposition/

Once again, the Trump administration in the United States is working against what's best for animals in reauthorizing wildlife killing cyanide bombs. In an effort to curb coyote numbers in particular, the government has allowed sodium cyanide bombs to once again be used despite extremely strong opposition from animal welfare groups and the general public. In fact, almost 99% of responses during an open question period were in favour of retaining the ban but obviously their intention was to lift the ban anyways.

Cyanide bombs are used to curb an overpopulation of supposed nuisance animals. The bombs work by luring animals with bait and once the animals interact with the bait, the poisonous spray is shot into their mouths which ultimately kills them. Some cases, the animals will die quickly but there are instances of long, drawn out deaths that are extremely cruel and painful. Given there are so many methods to "cull" an overpopulation, cyanide bombs are completely unnecessary, damaging to the environment, and offer the potential to kill animals that are unintended targets.

For example, in 2017, cyanide bombs killed three family dogs and temporarily blinded a child in separate incidents in Wyoming and Idaho. A protected wold was also killed by the M-44 (cyanide bomb) that same year in Oregon prompting the state to ban them. In 2018, over 6,000 animals were killed by these poisonous bombs; most of which were foxes and coyotes, significantly down from over 13, 000 the previous year. Over 200 animals indicated as non-target animals were also killed including raccoons, opossums,  foxes, and even a bear.

Cyanide bombs are non-discriminatory and therefore cannot be used with accuracy. They put the local ecosystems at risk leaving non-target animals and people at risk of cyanide poisoning. The United States Environmental Protection Agency who reinstated the cyanide bombs, has at the very least taken additional measures to protect humans from accidental interaction with the bombs but warning signs do absolutely nothing to prevent family pets and other non-target animals from accidentally activating the poisons.

This administration continues to work against what's best for animals by repeatedly allowing cruelty to animals despite overwhelming support for the opposite. His administration has attempted to remove protections for wolves and bears, taken a lackluster approach to protecting giraffes, allowed lion and elephant trophies into the country despite both animal facing uncertainty in the wild, and now these bombs. He is a disgrace to human rights and an even bigger disgrace when it comes to animal rights

HAPPY VEG