Taxpayers Subsidize Wildlife Extermination

Mary Lou Simms investigated the U. S. Department of Agriculture program that exterminates wild birds and animals for the McClatchy-Tribune News Service. “Wildlife Services is the little-known branch of the USDA deemed largely responsible for geese slaughters coast to coast. Buried under several layers of bureaucracy, Wildlife Services prefers to stay under the radar. However, a copy of a 2010 report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request indicates that U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing a $126.5 million program that exterminates more than 4 million wild animals annually, including thousands of geese. The agency also has come under fire for its use of sodium cyanide, a poison placed in devices called M-44’s, which its literature says is used to control coyotes, wild dogs and foxes preying on livestock.” Click here for the full report and here for her report on humane alternatives.