Press Release: Ban Coyote Killing Contests

NEWS RELEASE                                                                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Laura M. Nirenberg, Esq.

Executive Director

219.379.4401

laura@centerforwildlifeethics.org

With deadly deer disease expected to hit Indiana, public interest organization

urges state wildlife regulators to ban coyote killing contests 

LA PORTE, IN, December 27 – Currently, two* coyote killing contests are scheduled in Indiana in early 2019. Coyote killing contests/derbies award prizes to teams of hunters for killing the largest number of coyotes and the largest individual coyote. [*CORRECTION: At the time of this release, CWE was alerted to the existence of two coyote killing contests, but CWE’s subsequent research has uncovered a whopping SEVEN contests in Indiana in 2019.] These competitions disrupt the vital role coyotes play in healthy ecosystems, encourage mass slaughter, and glorify killing at the expense of ethics.

Source: Vargy’s Coyote Hunting Forum

The Center for Wildlife Ethics (“CWE”) is urging the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (“IDNR”) to intervene and end coyote killing contests given the agency’s concerns surrounding the imminent threat of Chronic Wasting Disease (“CWD”) in Indiana’s white-tailed deer herd.

As reported in the Indianapolis Star (December 22, 2018), CWD is a deadly, potentially devastating disease that will be “a permanent drain on resources to manage”. IDNR, the regulatory agency tasked with preserving and protecting Indiana’s wildlife resources for the benefit of all citizens, should ban all contest killings of natural predators given the whole state is simultaneously on high alert for the arrival of CWD in its deer population.

Unlike hunters, natural predators such as coyotes deliberately target the most vulnerable and unhealthy deer and other prey animals. According to Sharon Vogel, CWE’s Senior Biologist, “Vulnerable individuals in the deer population are those most likely to succumb to or spread Chronic Wasting Disease (“CWD”) and other wildlife illnesses. The lethal removal of large numbers of predator species given the looming threat of CWD seems reckless.”

Source: Vargy’s Coyote Hunting Forum

Click here for additional information specific to wildlife killing contests in general and here for a statement from conservation scientists about coyote killing contests specifically.

Concerns about the upcoming Indiana coyote killing contests should be directed to IDNR Deputy Director, Samantha DeWester at: sdewester@dnr.in.gov

Details about the upcoming coyote killing contests may be found here.

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Founded in 1998, The Center for Wildlife Ethics is a 501c3 public interest organization that champions effective environmental activism by targeting systemic harm that sustains the violence and exploitation of animals and their habitats. Additional information can be obtained by sending a detailed request to Laura@centerforwildlifeethics.org. 

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CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO ADD YOUR NAME TO CWE’s PETITION TO IDNR:

Shocked CWE Director finds trespassing hunter and the deer he killed in her backyard. Will justice prevail?

The trespasser planned to use this cart to remove the deer he killed.

On November 19th, I ran a quick errand and returned home to see a man running through my backyard, in broad daylight, pushing some type of cart. Alarmed by this unwelcome and unlawful intrusion, I ran out on the deck and asked him what he was doing.

This stranger, visibly angry that I was questioning him and challenging this trespass, started shouting about his need to retrieve a deer he killed.

The hunter indignantly insisted I wasn’t “supposed to be home”. The fact that the stranger seemed to know my schedule and addressed me by name was incredibly unnerving. He had apparently killed the deer in my backyard and rightfully assumed that I would not grant him legal permission to enter my property to retrieve the buck.  

I took his photo and demanded he leave the property. I called my husband, Ken, notified both the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (“IDNR”) and the local sheriff’s office, and then went to speak with my neighbor whose land the man supposedly had permission to hunt. She wasn’t home or didn’t answer the door.

I photographed the hunter’s truck and license plate to share with law enforcement. After arriving back home, I went out to determine how much damage the hunter caused. 

The search did not take long. I found a magnificent buck near a large puddle of blood next to a well-worn walking trail right outside our back door.

There was no blood trail to be found outside of the immediate area where the deer collapsed which indicates this deer was shot while on our land. 

The scene of the deer’s death.

Along the fence line dividing the properties, approximately 25 feet from a visible “no trespassing” sign, sat a half empty bottle of beer – beer the hunter was presumably drinking while he sat on the fence line, watching and waiting for me to leave the house that day.

When law enforcement arrived, Ken and I led them to the deer’s remains. Horribly shaken by the confrontation with the trespasser and the deer’s death, I reluctantly permitted DNR to take the deer but insisted that the antlers should be removed first. I was not comfortable allowing this poor deer to become someone’s wall ornament.

With a heavy heart, Ken grabbed the hunter’s deer cart and assisted the conservation officer (“CO”) in loading the deer in the back of IDNR’s truck. He then proceeded with the ghastly task of removing the animal’s antlers.

While filling out my victim’s statement, the CO mentioned that he believed he had a run-in with this hunter in the past. (Sure enough, a quick Internet search revealed this trespasser had previous violations including the illegal taking of game and shooting from/on/across a highway in 2017.) 

Hunter’s beer bottle left behind on the fence line.

Before leaving, the CO assured me that misdemeanor charges would be filed against the hunter for his intrusion on our private property.

A week following this incident, I called the CO's supervisor for an update about pending charges against this man. While the Lieutenant told me charges were being filed, he was unable to provide copies of the investigative records and any prepared report(s).

Instead, I - the victim in this matter – was instructed to file an Indiana Public Access to Records request, a process that can, and often does, take the agency months to complete. To add insult to injury, the costs for any copies of records generated by this information request are to be imposed on me before any documents will be released.

The Lieutenant also stressed, when asked if the hunter was still able to hunt, that IDNR cannot revoke hunting privileges. This, of course, begs the question: if the agency that issues licenses cannot revoke hunting privileges, who can?

My family has been severely harmed by the hunter’s outrageous behavior; our peace has been shattered.

We valued that deer greatly, alive, and warmly welcomed him on this small, safe haven of land. We cultivated a trusting relationship with him, and all the animals who frequent our property. We delight in their presence.

The deer sightings on our property are now rare. We are left with a lingering reminder of this stranger’s disregard for the law, his sense of entitlement, and his blatant violation of our sense of safety and security.

UPDATE: According to Mycase.IN.gov, the hunter has been charged with a criminal misdemeanor (Fishing/hunting/trapping/chasing on Private Land without Landowner Consent; I.C. § 14-22-10-1).

Will Indiana DNR ignore public opposition and pursue bobcat hunting legislation?

Following intense public outcry, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) Director, Cameron Clark, withdrew a proposal for a bobcat hunting season from the agency’s biennial rule package in May, 2018. Nonetheless, DNR’s subsequent actions strongly suggest the agency has not given up on this proposition. 

In November, CWE submitted a letter to Indiana’s Governor Holcomb, urging him to address DNR’s latest efforts to mobilize hunters and trappers and lobby politicians for a bobcat hunting bill during the upcoming 2019 legislative session. CWE contends that the closed-door meeting, co-hosted by DNR, was meant as a workaround to the public’s opposition to the bobcat season in DNR’s rule package.

Photo: Zanesville Times Recorder

Presumably in response to CWE’s letter to the Governor, CWE received a carefully-worded response from DNR claiming that the agency “…has not hosted any meetings to advance another proposed bobcat season”.

For argument sake, let’s just ignore that this statement conflicts with Indiana Representative Ron Bacon’s letter that clearly states Representatives and DNR “will be hosting a meeting to discuss implementing a bobcat season.”

DNR’s other point is deliberately misleading. Yes, DNR will not be “proposing” another bobcat season via its rulemaking process. As we know, the agency’s attempts to promulgate a bobcat hunting/trapping rule failed.

The agency’s carefully worded form letters, similar to its wildlife policy, are routinely vague and contrived by communication specialists skilled at perfecting controversial messages while avoiding any political hot buttons.

And, speaking of “political hot buttons”, as subscribers may recall, “harvesting bobcats”, was one of the issues initially scheduled on the agenda for DNR’s Communication Workshop on October 30, 2018. This topic was removed from the agenda soon after CWE’s Director formally registered for this course and replaced with sand hill crane hunting.