Federal wildlife agent: It’s a neighborhood problem, not a coyote problem

Please take a moment to visit the West Seattle Blog to read about a USDA Wildlife Service Agent's message to West Seattle residents looking to lethally remove coyotes from the Admiral neighborhood - "Don’t put your pets in harm’s way. And don’t make any other food source easily available, either. Losing pets to coyotes (or other predators) is a neighborhood problem, not a coyote problem."

Coyote puts on a morning show in January

On a cold and foggy morning, with the sun just beginning to peek through, we spotted this coyote on the far side of the river, just above the weir.  The coyote spotted us too, and for the next 5-6 minutes, the coyote gave us a show.  As you can see, the coyote was staring at us much of the time, and this show seemed to be somehow for our benefit. 

The first two photos are by Ollie Oliver, the rest by Dasha Gudalewicz.

Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics: Federal Trapper Arrested for Animal Cruelty

Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics: Federal Trapper Arrested for Animal Cruelty

Please read The Humane Society Legislative Fund's President Michael Markarian's recent posting on a tragic event that happened in Arizona last week involving a USDA Wildlife Services trapper.

Federal Trapper Arrested for Animal Cruelty

The USDA’s Wildlife Services program—established more than 80 years ago with the passage of the Animal Damage Control Act of 1931—wastes millions of taxpayer dollars recklessly killing animals with steel-jawed leghold traps, toxic poisons, aerial gunning, and other hideous lethal methods every year. Several former USDA-Wildlife Services employees and whistleblowers have described the agency’s deeply rooted culture of disregard for animals, and for these reasons, have long suspected that some federal trappers may be committing crimes against animals while performing work-related duties. They’ve never been caught in the act, until now.