Hundreds of family pets, protected species killed by Feds

[Hum]

It was an August morning two years ago when Maggie, a spry, 7-year-old border collie, slipped through the backyard fence of her family's suburban Oregon home. Minutes later, she was dead ? her neck snapped by a body-gripping trap set by the U.S. government less than 50 feet from the home she shared with the four children who loved her.

"It is an image that will never leave me," Maggie?s owner, Denise McCurtain, of Gresham, Ore., said of her death. "She was still breathing as we tried to remove the trap. Her eyes were open and she was looking at me. All I could say was 'I?m trying so hard. You didn?t do anything wrong.'"

Maggie?s death at a minimum was one of hundreds of accidental killings of pets over the last decade acknowledged by Wildlife Services, a little-known branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is tasked with destroying animals seen as threats to people, agriculture and the environment. Critics, including a source within the USDA, told FoxNews.com that the government?s taxpayer-funded Predator Control program and its killing methods are random -- and at times, illegal.

Over the years, Wildlife Services has killed thousands of non-target animals in several states ? from pet dogs to protected species ? caught in body-gripping conibear traps and leg hold snares, or poisoned by lethal M-44 devices that explode sodium cyanide capsules when triggered by a wild animal ? or the snout of a curious family pet.

The McCurtains, like many other families, were never informed that such deadly devices were placed so close to their home in grass near the edge of a pond where their young son kicks his soccer ball and their daughter catches turtles.

The traps, set on communal property owned by the neighborhood association, were meant to kill an infestation of nutria, rat-like pests that pose no danger to people but can be harmful to the environment. The only warning sign was a small placard in the grass that identified the device as government property and cautioned against tampering with it. The neighborhood association told the McCurtains it never would have approved such traps had it known they were so deadly.

"It?s unconscionable that anybody with an ounce of common sense would set these traps in an area frequented by the public and their pets," said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense, a national watchdog group that advocates non-lethal predator control.

The M-44's intended targets are coyotes that kill or harass livestock primarily in the western states, where Wildlife Services is most active and critical to farmers protecting their livestock.

A management source within the USDA claims Wildlife Services employees are told not to document the accidental killings of pets if it can be avoided.

"They are told to get rid of the leash and bury the dog," said the source, who spoke to FoxNews.com on condition of anonymity.

The source also alleged that in some instances in Arizona, California and Minnesota, the killings of pets are intentional ? often with the knowledge, approval and encouragement of upper level Wildlife Services management.

"There have been cases of them shooting and killing dogs," the source said. "They?ll just claim it was feral, vicious or rabid. They think they can do anything they want."

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[techbeck]

They should use LIVE humane traps. That way if they catch an innocent animal, they can let it free. It isnt like they are hunters trapping game for food out in the boonies.

[Hum]

I guess it will take the death of some little kid, to stop this madness. :ermm:

[OOOOOOOO]

I guess it will take the death of some little kid, to stop this madness. :ermm:

Which is dumb ... there's way too many kids in the world and few being eradicated wouldn't be too bad ... ;)

I'd much rather they used humane traps ... these animals don't deserve to suffer the way they do, just because the departments want to save a few dollars. It's sickening.

[psionicinversion]

when it said "government?s taxpayer-funded Predator Control program and its killing methods are random", had a vision of a predator drone flying through the air controlled by its own AI, just shooting at stuff. think ill gun down a dog today sick of them rat things, they dont explode that well

[Original Poster]

They should use LIVE humane traps. That way if they catch an innocent animal, they can let it free. It isnt like they are hunters trapping game for food out in the boonies.

mm food :( i hungry

[Growled Member]

Why am I not surprised our government is doing something dumb again. Sigh.