Marin County Votes to Phase out Lethal Predator Control

Animal Protection Institute
Wednesday, 1 November 2000

San Rafael, CA -- The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to phase out its support of a lethal U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services program for predator control on ranches in the county. The vote is being hailed by the Marin Coalition for California Wildlife as a progressive and forward thinking move.

"By this vote, Marin County has taken a bold step toward protecting wildlife and ensuring that agriculture and the environment can peacefully co-exist," said Camilla Fox, Wildlife Program Coordinator for the Animal Protection Institute, a member of the Coalition.

In 1999, the USDA killed 110 animals in Marin County, including 14 coyotes, 24 badgers, 9 bobcats, 13 gray foxes, 17 red foxes, 8 raccoons, 1 dog and 1 skunk. Although sheep ranchers are the primary beneficiaries of the program, 87 percent of the animals killed by the USDA are not known to prey on sheep, but rather are considered "nuisance" animals.

The USDA's primary methods of killing are strangulation neck snares and shooting, including the use of dogs to tree animals who are then shot at point blank range.

Controversy over the program last year caused the Board of Supervisors to enact restrictions on the USDA program, including a prohibition on the cruel practice of denning (where coyote pups are gassed and/or clubbed to death in their dens) and strict criteria to ensure that neck snares were used only as a last resort, after all other methods had failed. The USDA, however, refused to operate under those guidelines, and declined to sign the contract with the county.

"By refusing to operate within the modest guidelines established by Marin County, the USDA Wildlife Services agency has demonstrated its inability to change with the times and respond to shifting public values," said Suzanne Roy, Program Director for In Defense of Animals, another coalition member. "We commend the Board for recognizing that the USDA's cruel and antiquated lethal program is out of step with the environmental ethic of our county."

The county contract with the USDA will end in Fiscal Year 2002. Ranchers will be free to assume the contract privately, but no county tax dollars will underwrite the program. At the same time the county will allocate $50,000 annually to be spent exclusively to help ranchers implement non-lethal livestock protection measures -- from secure fencing to guard dogs and even shepherds -- that have proven more effective over the long run than lethal methods.

The Marin Coalition for California Wildlife includes the Animal Protection Institute, In Defense of Animals, the Marin Humane Society, Wildcare, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Earth Island Institute.

For more information, or to contact Animal Protection Institute, see their website at: www.api4animals.org