Your tax dollars are used by federal and local governments to send out “killing teams” to shoot, poison, trap or eradicate in any way they see fit, wild bears, coyotes, wolves, foxes, even armadillos and birds, like starlings. However, other endangered species of animals, like eagles, may also die when the killing teams set out bait laced with cyanide. This is all often done to supposedly protect ranchers’ livestock.
Remember, many ranchers do not even own the land they graze their livestock on, even though they act like and think they do. In reality, these lands are federally owned by U.S. taxpayers and, these days, wildlife seekers are more interested in shooting pictures than shooting animals. If most of these ranchers disappeared tomorrow it would not drive up the cost of meat products.
Most of these ranchers would possibly be out of business if they lost their federal government subsidies, or financial “handouts”, and did not lobby their state and local politicians with campaign contributions just to try and maintain their unpopular, on-the-way-out, waning way of life.
Too many ranchers balk at the cost and effort necessary to kill humanely. As long as they can simply call in a federal or local government “killer” to do their dirty work, critics charge, there is little incentive to change their ways.
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: CBS-TV 60 MINUTES 11/17/02