Cyanide Bombs are Still Hidden on Public Lands
- 600milliondogs.org
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
14-year-old Canyon Mansfield was walking with his beloved dog, Kasey, near their home in Idaho when Kasey investigated what looked like an ordinary sprinkler head hidden in the ground.
The device blasted sodium cyanide into Kasey's mouth and face.
Canyon watched his dog convulse, foam at the mouth, collapse, and die in terrible pain.
Canyon was also poisoned and continues to suffer health problems from the exposure.
Kasey's death happened because the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program had placed the device to kill coyotes in the area.
The poison device was hidden in the ground.
Kasey reached it before any coyote did.
The hidden device, called an M44, is filled with sodium cyanide and baited with a scent that attracts animals.
When an animal bites the bait, the device blasts poison into the animal's mouth.
The poison can cause convulsions, foaming at the mouth, fluid to fill the lungs, paralysis, and death.
Kasey's death led lawmakers to introduce Canyon's Law, named after Canyon Mansfield.
Introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives Jared Huffman and Steve Cohen, the bill would ban M44 cyanide devices on public lands.
Family dogs, wildlife, and people would no longer be exposed to these hidden poison devices on public lands.
The bill is now before the Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, who will decide whether it moves forward.
Between 2018 and 2023, Wildlife Services reported killing more than 42,000 animals with M44 devices.
The agency also reported that about 1,200 of the animals killed by the devices were not the intended targets.
Every one of those animals died because a hidden poison device could not tell the difference between a coyote, a family dog, or protected wildlife.
Please sign today and urge Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, to move Canyon's Law forward.
Thank you for standing for animals!
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