We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2014
CONTACT:
Kiley Blackman
[email protected]
www.adow.org
BILL ENABLES TRANSPARENCY, ACCESS TO USDA POLICIES
Westchester County, NY April 25, 2014
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and its adjuncts USDA/Wildlife Services have been in the news recently, regarding procedures and policies that resulted in alarm and controversy. Locally these agencies have caused outcry over their plans to wipe out the entire swan population in NYS, uproar over the slaughtering of wild turkeys in Staten Island, lawsuits and chaos from their proposed annihilation of deer in Long Island...while profiting handsomely and having to answer to no one. They been accused of discrimination, animal cruelty, killing endangered species, family pets and animals that weren't targeted.
Recently Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW) met with Senator George
Latimer to discuss our concerns about these issues. In response, he has
introduced legislation that addresses citizen's rights to information and
input on these agency's methods in NYS. Our taxes are keeping these agencies
in business with no accountability to the public, and we urgently believe it
is time for a change.
Since becoming involved in this issue, we've learned some disturbing facts
about these agencies, such as profiting to the tune of over 126 MILLION
dollars annually by urging municipalities to slaughter wildlife instead of
using non-lethal methods; that they are being investigated by two
congressmen arguing that indiscriminately killing more than 3 million birds
and other wildlife every year is counterproductive; that Congressman Peter
DeFazio has spent years asking for but not receiving information from
Wildlife Services, which he calls "the least accountable federal agency" he
has ever seen; allegations by a Wildlife Services hunter who states he was
fired for telling superiors that colleagues had killed five mountain lions
from airplanes, which is a felony. He said his supervisor told him to "mind
his own business." He also said the same supervisor gave similar advice
when a snare he set unintentionally killed a golden eagle. Knowing that the
bird was protected under federal law, he called his supervisor for guidance
and was told, 'If you think no one saw it, take a shovel and bury it,"
They've been accused of blatant animal cruelty, particularly in the use of
dogs to control and kill coyotes, as reported by Fox News. Last year, a
Wildlife Services trapper posted photographs to his Facebook page showing
his dogs savaging a coyote caught in a leg-hold trap. Other pictures showed
the agent's animals mauling bobcats and raccoons.
The USDA enriches itself by scapegoating wildlife and convincing the public
that they must be wiped out - which detracts attention from the deplorable
state we ourselves have put the environment in: For example, the horrific
mudslides in Washington that caused the death of over 30 people and millions
in property damage is widely said to be caused by over-logging in the area -
and not by deer eating tulips, as the USDA would have the public believe;
they openly discourage non-lethal methods and doom humane efforts by telling
SI residents via telephone how to oil turkey eggs instead of demonstrating
the process - almost guaranteeing the failure of this tricky non-lethal
method. There is essentially no screening of persons applying for a
slaughter permit - they're dispensed like confetti at a parade.
Bill S6644 calls for mandatory public notification of upcoming slaughters;
mandatory availability of public meetings before slaughters; mandatory
prior use of humane alternatives before slaughters. Taxpayers and citizens
have the right to notification, input and meetings, the same as public
meetings concerning the operation of a school district, municipal planning
boards, etc.
Perceptions are changing, people realize we have no right to harm animals;
In NYC both mayoral candidates promised to end the carriage horse industry
due to major voter sentiment against it. Transparency in government is
always a necessity; when it comes to the most vulnerable members of society
- children, the elderly, animals - we must demand it for them. We also care
about our rights as citizens and taxpayers: We have the right to know and
have input on government decisions that effect our world, this is democracy
in action. This bill ensures our right to community involvement, discloses
how our government works and the changes that sometimes need to be made as a
result.
Kiley Blackman, founder of ADOW, said, 'WS tells the public they don't
announce upcoming culls to 'minimize the stress on the birds' - who are
viciously grabbed by their necks and feet, screaming, shoved into crates,
watching helplessly as their babies are being taken from them, and beating
their wings against the crates trying to escape...all done by WS. They deny
the public their rights in order to avoid scrutiny; It's over, WS: No more
secrets and lies will be tolerated.'
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