Post by Tim Rose on Jan 27, 2008 14:53:18 GMT -5
A news article Today in the Bloomington Paper
Harlod Times Bloomington Press
A dog fight is brewing between animal rights activists and trappers over how coyotes may be treated in Indiana.
When a trapper catches a coyote during hunting season, he can kill it for its pelt or keep it in a pen for live sale for the duration of coyote season. A regulation change would require that coyotes be killed within 24 hours of being trapped outside of trapping season, and that has some trappers seething.
Trappers say their profits are threatened, while animal rights advocates say current laws let coyotes be sold year-round as live bait in dog-running enclosures.
Why keep a live coyote?
According to the Department of Natural Resources, coyote pelts sold for an average of $11.60 during the 2006-07 season. Coyote urine, which can be collected from the bladder of a killed coyote or collected under the pen of a captive animal, sells for $6.99 a pint on eBay.
The summer pelt of a coyote has no market value, so trappers don’t make any money in helping farmers by killing nuisance coyotes in warm months.
Live coyotes, trapped any time of year, make the most money for trappers. Live coyotes can be sold outside of Indiana for use in training and running hunting dogs. Trappers say they can get from $50 to $200 for a live coyote.
The rule change would limit their sale to five months of the year, and forbid possession of live coyotes except during hunting season unless the trapper has a game breeder license.
The proposed change is to the Indiana Administrative Code, in a section that regulates natural resources, including wildlife.
The Indiana state organizer for the Humane Society of the United States calls enacting the change “a top priority.”
As things stand
Coyote hunting and trapping season runs Oct. 15 through March 15, but nuisance coyotes may be taken on private land outside of the season with written permission from the land owner. Livestock farmers often depend upon coyote hunters when the predators kill calves, lambs, baby goats and poultry.
Current Indiana wildlife regulations do not restrict how long a trapper may keep a live coyote, nor the conditions in which the animal is housed until it is killed or sold.
The Natural Resources Commission, an advisory body to the DNR, has proposed deleting the rule that states, “A coyote must not be possessed from April 5 through October 14 except to provide for its prompt disposal” because “prompt disposal” is vague and difficult to enforce.
Another change adds “A coyote taken ... from March 16 through October 14 must be euthanized within twenty-four (24) hours of capture. A coyote taken ... from March 16 through October 14 shall not be: possessed for more than twenty-four (24) hours; or sold, traded; bartered; or gifted.”
Changes to the regulations do not place restrictions on what a trapper may do with a live coyote during hunting season.
Mike Crider, director of law enforcement for the DNR, said the statute’s current wording makes enforcement difficult.
“We don’t believe it was the Legislature’s intent to ever allow live sale of coyotes outside of regular season. Most folks believe the intent of the statute was to allow land owners to kill (nuisance coyotes). ... We tried to change the rules so everyone understands the rules and is on the same playing field.”
In November 2007, Crider was involved in an eight-state undercover investigation of the illegal sale of live coyotes, which revealed that Indiana was a major supplier of coyotes to predator enclosures where hunting dogs are run. Wildlife officials in other states have asked Indiana to stop being a source, Crider said.
The heads of the Ohio and Kentucky natural resource departments have formally asked Indiana officials to ban the sale of live coyotes.
Trappers oppose changes
Tim Rose is the Indiana state organizer for the Fur Takers of America. In an e-mail interview, Rose said the organization opposes the proposed rule changes.
“Ask any farmer that has had a newborn calf taken down and killed by coyotes if they feel that ‘free’ coyote control isn’t important to them during the summer months. Currently trappers do a service to the farmer/landowner for free in the off season.
“The only way a trapper can recoup his or her cost is by being able to trade, sell or barter the coyote.
“If trappers cannot recoup the cost, then the farmer or, worse yet, the tax payer may have to bear the burden in the near future. Why take away the incentive for trappers to do ‘free’ coyote control?” Rose said.
“Many serious coyote men and women have hung up their traps in protest over the proposed rule change and this will have a very serious effect on Indiana’s coyote population if we can’t get these professionals back out in the field,” Rose said.
Those in favor
In support of the rule changes, the Humane Society cites state code, which states, “All wild animals, except those that are: (1) legally owned or being held in captivity under a license or permit ... are the property of the people of Indiana.” They say trappers have no right to sell live coyotes that belong to the state’s taxpayers.
The proposed changes are a step in the right direction, animal advocates say, but do not prevent sale of live coyotes during trapping season.
“We would like to see it be a year-round ban,” said Anne Sterling, Indiana director of the Humane Society of the United States, who lives in Bloomington.
What about coyotes that threaten livestock?
“No one wants to see farmers lose their animals, but folks have a responsibility to (protect) their investment. If farmers complain that coyotes are killing their livestock, then it would make sense that the farmers would put the animals in at night or take other measures to protect their livestock,” Sterling said.
In the Statehouse
There are no bills before the Legislature to either ban the sale of live coyotes or to block the proposed trapping rule changes. Both Rose, the trapper, and Sterling, with Humane Society, are urging legislators to take up their opposing banners.
State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, endorses the changes, saying “The DNR rule is a small step in the right direction. However, more needs to be done. I hope the Legislature will act to prohibit the export of coyotes for use as live bait. No civilized society should tolerate this inhumane treatment.”
Meanwhile, the Natural Resources Commission is accepting comments from the public on the rule change. If approved by the NRC, the attorney general and the governor, the changes would become effective in 2009.
Harlod Times Bloomington Press
A dog fight is brewing between animal rights activists and trappers over how coyotes may be treated in Indiana.
When a trapper catches a coyote during hunting season, he can kill it for its pelt or keep it in a pen for live sale for the duration of coyote season. A regulation change would require that coyotes be killed within 24 hours of being trapped outside of trapping season, and that has some trappers seething.
Trappers say their profits are threatened, while animal rights advocates say current laws let coyotes be sold year-round as live bait in dog-running enclosures.
Why keep a live coyote?
According to the Department of Natural Resources, coyote pelts sold for an average of $11.60 during the 2006-07 season. Coyote urine, which can be collected from the bladder of a killed coyote or collected under the pen of a captive animal, sells for $6.99 a pint on eBay.
The summer pelt of a coyote has no market value, so trappers don’t make any money in helping farmers by killing nuisance coyotes in warm months.
Live coyotes, trapped any time of year, make the most money for trappers. Live coyotes can be sold outside of Indiana for use in training and running hunting dogs. Trappers say they can get from $50 to $200 for a live coyote.
The rule change would limit their sale to five months of the year, and forbid possession of live coyotes except during hunting season unless the trapper has a game breeder license.
The proposed change is to the Indiana Administrative Code, in a section that regulates natural resources, including wildlife.
The Indiana state organizer for the Humane Society of the United States calls enacting the change “a top priority.”
As things stand
Coyote hunting and trapping season runs Oct. 15 through March 15, but nuisance coyotes may be taken on private land outside of the season with written permission from the land owner. Livestock farmers often depend upon coyote hunters when the predators kill calves, lambs, baby goats and poultry.
Current Indiana wildlife regulations do not restrict how long a trapper may keep a live coyote, nor the conditions in which the animal is housed until it is killed or sold.
The Natural Resources Commission, an advisory body to the DNR, has proposed deleting the rule that states, “A coyote must not be possessed from April 5 through October 14 except to provide for its prompt disposal” because “prompt disposal” is vague and difficult to enforce.
Another change adds “A coyote taken ... from March 16 through October 14 must be euthanized within twenty-four (24) hours of capture. A coyote taken ... from March 16 through October 14 shall not be: possessed for more than twenty-four (24) hours; or sold, traded; bartered; or gifted.”
Changes to the regulations do not place restrictions on what a trapper may do with a live coyote during hunting season.
Mike Crider, director of law enforcement for the DNR, said the statute’s current wording makes enforcement difficult.
“We don’t believe it was the Legislature’s intent to ever allow live sale of coyotes outside of regular season. Most folks believe the intent of the statute was to allow land owners to kill (nuisance coyotes). ... We tried to change the rules so everyone understands the rules and is on the same playing field.”
In November 2007, Crider was involved in an eight-state undercover investigation of the illegal sale of live coyotes, which revealed that Indiana was a major supplier of coyotes to predator enclosures where hunting dogs are run. Wildlife officials in other states have asked Indiana to stop being a source, Crider said.
The heads of the Ohio and Kentucky natural resource departments have formally asked Indiana officials to ban the sale of live coyotes.
Trappers oppose changes
Tim Rose is the Indiana state organizer for the Fur Takers of America. In an e-mail interview, Rose said the organization opposes the proposed rule changes.
“Ask any farmer that has had a newborn calf taken down and killed by coyotes if they feel that ‘free’ coyote control isn’t important to them during the summer months. Currently trappers do a service to the farmer/landowner for free in the off season.
“The only way a trapper can recoup his or her cost is by being able to trade, sell or barter the coyote.
“If trappers cannot recoup the cost, then the farmer or, worse yet, the tax payer may have to bear the burden in the near future. Why take away the incentive for trappers to do ‘free’ coyote control?” Rose said.
“Many serious coyote men and women have hung up their traps in protest over the proposed rule change and this will have a very serious effect on Indiana’s coyote population if we can’t get these professionals back out in the field,” Rose said.
Those in favor
In support of the rule changes, the Humane Society cites state code, which states, “All wild animals, except those that are: (1) legally owned or being held in captivity under a license or permit ... are the property of the people of Indiana.” They say trappers have no right to sell live coyotes that belong to the state’s taxpayers.
The proposed changes are a step in the right direction, animal advocates say, but do not prevent sale of live coyotes during trapping season.
“We would like to see it be a year-round ban,” said Anne Sterling, Indiana director of the Humane Society of the United States, who lives in Bloomington.
What about coyotes that threaten livestock?
“No one wants to see farmers lose their animals, but folks have a responsibility to (protect) their investment. If farmers complain that coyotes are killing their livestock, then it would make sense that the farmers would put the animals in at night or take other measures to protect their livestock,” Sterling said.
In the Statehouse
There are no bills before the Legislature to either ban the sale of live coyotes or to block the proposed trapping rule changes. Both Rose, the trapper, and Sterling, with Humane Society, are urging legislators to take up their opposing banners.
State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, endorses the changes, saying “The DNR rule is a small step in the right direction. However, more needs to be done. I hope the Legislature will act to prohibit the export of coyotes for use as live bait. No civilized society should tolerate this inhumane treatment.”
Meanwhile, the Natural Resources Commission is accepting comments from the public on the rule change. If approved by the NRC, the attorney general and the governor, the changes would become effective in 2009.
