U.S. WIldlife Services Kills Nearly 1.5 Millions Native Animals last Year

​worldanimalnews.com/breaking-agriculture-departments-wildlife-services-killed-nearly-1-5-million-native-animals-last-year-in-the-united-states/

The U.S. Wildlife Services killed almost 1.5 million native animals last year and almost all of them were to protect the agriculture industry, in otherwords, livestock, livestock feed and grazing areas, and produce. Among these animals intentionally killed were endangered gray wolves, cougars, bobcats, coyotes, and black bears including cubs. This also includes animals unintentionally killed which included bobcats, foxes, bears, and other non target species like cardinals, eagles, and otters.

Their aim to protect the agriculture industry is their only explaination for such an astronimcally high amount of animals slaughtered and often times these animals are killed in outdated and barbaric ways.

“I’m outraged that the Department of Agriculture continues to needlessly slaughter our important native wildlife,” Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement. She goes on to state that there is no scientific data that supports killing these animals even in the case of protecting the agricuklture industry. This is especially true when you consider that gray wolves are endangered and face extinction if not properly protected but it appears that profitsn once again trump the severity of protecting a species from extinction.

Some of these despicable methods include strangulation snares, painful leg hold traps, and poison fumes used in dens where pups are sleeping. These horrific methods of killing animals are disgusting and definitely demonstrate a complete lack of empathy or compassion for the animals that endure these traps. To think that almost 1 and a half million animals were poisoned, strangled, or left to die trapped in leg holds, is awful and based on science, compeltely unnecessary.

What is especially important to note is why these animals are being killed, to protect agriculture. I find myself wondering if this is the ONLY way to prevent these animals from disrupting agriculture or if this just happens to be the easiest way. The major problem I have with this is that almost all of these animals are natural predators / carnivores. Animals like bears, wolves, coyotoes, and foxes are responsible for keeping other animals like deer, mice and rats from overpopulating. By removing alkl of the predators, what do they think will happen? Ultimatelym, these other herbivorous animals will overpopulate and they will face the exact same problems which will undoubtedly lead to more killing to protect the agriculture industry. 

It's another unfortunate downside of the livestock industry as if we all needed another reason to loathe them. Not only do these industries continue to take more and more land away from native animals, pollute the environment, and slaughter millions of livestock every year, but now we must worry that because of the native animals lack of land to roam, that we will see them suffer at the hands of this industry as well. Why can't we recognize that if we continue to take their land for our own agendas, they will be faced with no other options but to roam into what we have designated our own space. This vicious cycyle fo taking everything for ourselves and killing everything that stands in our way is the exact reason the gray wolves have seen such a sharp decline in their numbers. Are we honestly this stupid?

HAPPY VEG