Petition to Ban M-44s Nationwide Delivered to the EPA on August 10
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and several other conservation partners petitioned the EPA on Thursday, August 10 to stop all use of M-44 cyanide bombs. The injury of a young boy and the death of his dog by an M-44 in Pocatello, Idaho earlier this year has prompted a renewed call for a ban on these deadly devices. Once banned by President Nixon, they were cleared for use again a few months later when President Ford took office. Hundreds of thousands of target and non-target animals, both wild and domestic, have been killed by M-44s over the past decades. Waiting until a person is killed by an M-44 is too late. The EPA must take all action necessary now to ban these devices and consider them unsafe for use.
“Cyanide traps are indiscriminate killers that just can’t be used safely,” said Collette Adkins, an attorney and biologist at the Center. “We’re not fooled by the feds’ ridiculous suggestion that bigger warning signs could somehow keep cyanide traps from hurting people, pets and imperiled wildlife. A permanent nationwide ban is the only answer.”
Read more in this article from the Revelator (publication from the CBD) about M-44s including interactive maps and statistics.