"The poison-filled traps are used by the federal government to kill coyotes, foxes and other animals for farmers and ranchers"
"After sustained public outcry, the Trump administration has voided its decision to reauthorize controversial cyanide traps for killing wildlife.
The traps, which are known as M-44s and dubbed “cyanide bombs” by critics, are spring-loaded devices that emit a spray of sodium cyanide to kill their targets. The traps are most frequently used by Wildlife Services, a little-known federal agency inside the United States Department of Agriculture, to kill coyotes, foxes and other animals at the behest of private agriculture operators.
Last year, Wildlife Services killed more than 1.5 million native wild animals across the country, including bears, wolves, birds and more. Roughly 6,500 of these deaths were caused by M-44 traps.
“I am announcing a withdrawal of EPA’s interim registration review decision on sodium cyanide, the compound used in M-44 devices to control wild predators,” Andrew Wheeler, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, announced in a public statement. “This issue warrants further analysis and additional discussions by EPA with the registrants of this predacide.”"
Jimmy Tobias reports for the Guardian August 15, 2019.
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