The US Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services agency, at farmer request, kills predators that may harm farm animals. But critics say it does serious harm to non-target species and uses needlessly cruel and indiscriminate methods.
"The day began with a drive across the desert, checking the snares he had placed in the sagebrush to catch coyotes.
Gary Strader, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, stepped out of his truck near a ravine in Nevada and found something he hadn't intended to kill.
There, strangled in a neck snare, was one of the most majestic birds in America, a federally protected golden eagle."
Tom Knudson reports for the Sacramento Bee April 28, 2012, in a major multiday feature package.
SEE ALSO:
"Wildllife Services' Deadly Force Opens Pandora's Box of Environmental Problems" (Part 2 of 3)
"Neck Snare Is a 'Non-Forgiving And Nonselective' Killer, Former Trapper Says" (Part 3 of 3)
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