LETHAL CONTROL: A Film Exposing the Public Safety Menace Posed by M-44s

This heart-grabbing documentary features people we've worked with over the years whose lives have been forever changed by M-44 "cyanide bombs." Once you meet them in this film, you'll truly understand why M-44s must be banned.

About the Film

LETHAL CONTROL is a poignant 52-minute documentary made by graduate student Jamie Drysdale as his final project for a masters in environmental journalism from the University of Montana. The film features interviews with a number of M-44 victims we've helped over the years, Read interview with filmmaker in Psychology Today

Drysdale immersed himself with great sensitivity and attention to detail in interviews with people we've worked with over the years whose lives were forever changed by lethal M-44 cyanide bombs. They were either poisoned, or lost their dog(s)...or BOTH.

The latter category includes the Mansfield family of Pocatello, Idaho, who is extensively interviewed in the film, along with the local sheriff. The Mansfield's 14-year-old son Canyon went out for a walk with his dog on a hill behind his house in 2017 and saw something that looked like a sprinkler head. When he touched it a powdery substance exploded from the device. His dog Kasey died a horrifying death within minutes in front of him and Canyon has suffered long-term health effects from the poison. But Canyon decided not to simply be a victim. He since became an activist to ban M-44s. He and his family traveled with us to Washington, D.C. in 2017 and 2019 to push for federal legislation to ban M-44s nationwide.

This film brings home the unacceptable legacy (and ongoing travesty) of federal poisoning campaigns and makes a powerful case for a ban on M-44s.

• Watch the film
• Watch the trailer

Screenings

We held the first public screening of this heart-grabbing film on March 2, 2019 at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon. The second screening was April 1 at Eaton Theater in Washington, D.C., and was followed by an educational briefing for Congressional staff on April 2. These events were followed by three screenings in Idaho: May 16 in Ketchum, May 17 in Boise, and May 18 in Pocatello, Idaho. To allow people around the world to watch the film, the filmmaker made it available online.

About M-44s

Government agents in USDA Wildlife Services set M-44s for coyote control, but these devices indiscrimately poison humans and kill countless dogs and non-target animals. M-44s can never be used safely, as no small child, dog, or wild animal can read warning signs, and there is no place in the great outdoors that people and animals do not go. M-44s are a public safety menace and must be banned.

• M-44 fact sheet
• Learn more about our work to ban M-44s

Legislation

We have been actively involved in initiating and supporting both national and state-level efforts to effect a ban on M-44s since 1990. Our work kicked into even higher gear in recent years, with the following results:

• Oregon banned M-44s statewide, joining California and Washington to create a West Coast free from "cyanide bombs." The Oregon vote was almost unanimous and the ban went into effect Jan. 1, 2020. Details
• Bills to ban M-44s on public lands were reintroduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress in June 2023. Details

News Coverage

• Secretive federal agency's days of killing pets with poison bombs may finally be ending - The Intercept, July 27, 2023
• Conservation groups, federal lawmakers seek to end use of ‘cyanide bombs’ on public lands - NM Political Report, July 4, 2023
• Bills Introduced to Ban Deadly "Cyanide Bombs" on Public Lands - press release by Center for Biological Diversity in concert with Predator Defense, June 14, 2023
• Huffman, Cohen, Merkley Introduce Bill to Keep Families and Pets Safe from Hazardous Explosives - joint press release by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oreg.), June 13, 2023
• OR feds step up against cyanide devices on public land - two bills introduced in Congress by Senator and Representative from Oregon, The Corvalis Advocate, July 22, 2022
• Efforts to ban 'cyanide bombs' live on five years after local boy injured, pet killed - Idaho State Journal, Mar. 16, 2022
• U.S. government agrees to pay local family $38,500 in lawsuit over illegally placed M-44 'cyanide bomb' - Idaho State Journal, Aug. 10, 2020
• Fight to permanently outlaw M-44 'cyanide bombs' rages on with documentary film, local family's crusade - Idaho State Journal, Mar. 15, 2019
• (Un)controlled Lethality: A screening of 'Lethal Control' at PIELC displays the dangers of cyanide devices - Eugene Weekly, Feb. 28, 2019
• 'Lethal Control': A film about the reckless use of M-44's - Psychology Today, Feb. 21, 2019
• 'Lethal Control' film details Wildlife Services' deadly use of M-44's - Idaho State Journal, Jan. 15, 2019
• Read additional articles about the nationwide fight to ban M-44s