May 2012 - We've been working for over a year with a reporter from the Sacramento Bee on an exposé on the USDA Wildlife Services "predator control" program. The Bee's in-depth, three-part series is a searing indictment of this brutal government agency.

• Part 1 - "The killing agency: Wildlife Services' brutal methods leave a trail of animal death"
• Part 2 - "Wildlife Services' deadly force opens Pandora's box of environmental problems"
• Part 3 - "Suggestions in changing Wildlife Services range from new practices to outright bans"
• Editorial - "Wildlife Services needs a tight leash"
• Editorial Cartoon - "I can't believe people think there could be adverse consequences to these coyote kills..."
• Feature - "M-44s lure animal with smelly bait, kill with cyanide"
• Videos - "Target and non-target animals often suffer"

April 4, 2012 - In February we received a call about a bobcat caught in an illegally set strangling snare on private property. We immediately rushed to the location and found an adult male bobcat caught around the torso. He had been trapped for about 12 hours. Read story

Fortunately we got there in time to save his life by restraining him and cutting him free. We were rewarded by his immediate race for freedom, and—amazingly—we caught all this on video. Our footage will be an important tool in bringing about essential trapping reform and we will be sharing it broadly.

• Read full story of bobcat's dramatic rescue
• Watch rescue video Part 1 | Part 2
• Learn how you can help us bring about nationwide trapping reform

March 20, 2012 - A bill to ban two deadly wildlife poisons—Compound 1080 and sodium cyanide (used in M-44s)—was just reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. We have been working for many years on this vital legislation that would protect humans, pets and wildlife from lethal hazards placed by government agents on private and public lands. Details

We will keep you posted on this bill, H.R. 4214, as it progresses. If you want to help us stop the USDA's war on widlife in the most effective way possible, we cannot stress this enough: NOW IS THE TIME!

Donate today

Not only are lethal methods still being considered, OSU's gates and fencing are what actually endanger their sheep

March 6, 2012 - We can celebrate a partial victory: Oregon State University (OSU) deactivated the lethal traps at their sheep farm. However, their inadequate gates and broken-down fence line continue to leave their sheep open to predators.

In other words, the snares they previously installed were killing wildlife and endangering neighbors' pets without even protecting OSU's sheep!

With a few preventive measures like repairing their fence line, securing their gates, and intalling hotwires, they can protect the sheep in their care while simultaneously ensuring the safety of people, pets and wildlife in their community. They can also become a leader in humane animal husbandry.  

Read our plea to OSU urging simple preventive fixes and permanent nonlethal solutions.

Family's border collie strangled to death in trap near yard

In a pristine suburb of Portland, OR, a family's border collie named Maggie was killed by a deadly trap set in a community common area just 45 feet from their back yard. This is an area where kids play. This trap could have easily injured or killed a child.

No compliant warning signs were posted, nor were instructions for removing the trap or whom to call for help. The trap's placement violated both Oregon state law and the internal directives of Wildlife Services, the
government agency responsible. This crime was committed with the help of your tax dollars.

Read Maggie's story and learn how you can help the family honor Maggie and protect others from similar tragedy.

Wolf Season 2011-2012 - Thanks in large part to your efforts, Oregon state has been ordered to stop the destruction of Oregon's first and main wolf pack, the Imnaha. Last year the pack numbered 16; then the state issued kill orders on the alpha male and the pack was reduced to just 5. Read the latest update

Aggressive hunting seasons are underway in Idaho and Montana, where the hand-off of wolf management from federal to state control has predictably created a holocaust for wolves. Help us stop the slaughter by boycotting Montana and Idaho.

Thanks so much to those who joined us on October 14 at our Rally/Howl-In and News Conference in Helena to protest the state-managed sport hunting of Montana wolves. Learn more about Montana's slaughter and watch our executive director speak at the rally

Big Ag & NRA block common sense funding cuts

June 18, 2011 - Every year tens of thousands of vital native predators—bears, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, foxes and wolves—are killed with your taxpayer money by USDA Wildlife Services "lethal predator control" program. Sadly, an amendment to reduce funding of this wasteful government subsidy to ranchers by $11 million a year was defeated in Congress on June 16. The vote was 132-287; only 30 Republican's voted in support of the bill.

The opposition ran a campaign full of lies and fear-mongering. The National Rifle Association (NRA) was the biggest group fighting the amendment, followed by many different livestock organizations. We will continue forward in our efforts to dismantle this brutal government agency.

• Watch Rep. DeFazio go after Wildlife Services in defense of the budget cuts
• Rep. Campbell blames NRA for defeat of proposal to pull funding from program that kills predators - Newport Beach Patch, June 23, 2011
• Top scientist dispels NRA rhetoric
• Taxpayers subsidizing wildlife extermination program, probe shows - Kansas City Star, August 18, 2011

Should Toxic Wildlife Traps Be Banned?

On March 11, 2011 CNN Headline News featured us in a news story about M-44 poison traps used by the USDA’s Wildlife Services program. The producers had heard about our efforts to ban M-44s and had also seen our YouTube video, “Two Killers That Need to Go,” on the deadly threat of M-44s. The CNN interview featured our executive director, Brooks Fahy, as well as people we've helped over the years who have been injured by M-44s or who have lost dogs to them.

This is the first time that this issue and Wildlife Services’ lethal predator control program have been featured in a national live broadcast. It was conducted during prime time, reaching millions of households in the U.S. and abroad. Help us ban M-44s

Saving Native Predators

From our inception two decades ago, our mission has never changed—we exist to protect our nation’s maligned predator species from persecution.

Our primary effort has been our fight to dismantle government-sponsored lethal predator control programs. And every year special interest groups ask for more government funding for lethal predator control that use indiscriminate killing methods.

Their war on wildlife knows no bounds. It continues discreetly and routinely bolstered by state wildlife management agencies and the livestock industry, and, unwittingly, by citizens whose tax dollars are misused to kill native wildlife.

• The importance of predators
• Our work | Photo gallery
• Meet some of our supporters and read their testimonials
• 20th anniversary message from our director
• "Taking Stock:" A 2010 report to our members and action plan for 2011

Your Tax Dollars at Work

The USDA Wildlife Services predator control program is the only federal program that kills native predators at the request of ranchers and state wildlife management agencies. They use indiscriminate methods that also endanger humans and pets. This program is a primary focus of our legislative work. About USDA Wildlife Services

From 1990-1995, Predator Defense operated a wildlife hospital and care center for injured and orphaned predator mammals.

Many native predators, like the baby bobcat orphan at left, were successfully released back into the wild.

Meet some of our patients