In January and February of each year, 30 wildlife killing contests take place in Pennsylvania where hundreds of coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, opossums, groundhogs, squirrels and other species are gunned down for fun, cash and prizes. While some states have outlawed these barbaric events, Pa. still conducts these horrific predator killings.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has gone undercover at contests in 10 states. The investigators documented participants hauling in bloody piles of dead foxes and coyotes to be weighed and counted for prizes. Competitors joked about the “thrill” of the kill and threw dead animals into a dumpster. Photos of killing contests posted by participants on social media show children standing among piles of bloody animals, animals hung upside down from a scale to be judged for prizes and dead animals strewn about the ground.
Despite participants’ claims to the contrary, no scientific reason exists to support these killing contests. They serve no genuine wildlife management function. Prominent scientists and wildlife management professionals have condemned the events as ineffective and counterproductive. Killing contests can increase-not decrease-coyote and other predator numbers and create conflicts with livestock where there was none…