Each year hundreds of coyotes are killed in “competitions” throughout Wisconsin. Prizes include cash, guns and hunting equipment. Children, now even toddlers in Wisconsin, are encouraged to participate, and social media pages, including Moondog Madness, show kids posing with assault rifles beside the bloodied bodies of the dogs they killed.
This puts the public at risk, not to mention other animals who may be mistaken during this blood lust “sport.” It is possible that federally protected wolves are using the Wisconsin River corridor to move to Iowa and other states. A person in our community lost dogs that were killed by a coyote hunter.
I hope the citizens of Wisconsin will be outraged to learn that this is coming to our communities. The contests serve no ecological purpose. They are at odds with sound wildlife management. Far from offering any beneficial management purpose, wildlife killing contests simply promote gratuitous violence and the destruction of countless coyotes for no reason. Coyotes help balance nature, and stop chronic wasting disease.
Melissa Smith (Madison, WI)
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