WILLIAMS, OR – Big Wildlife, a wildlife protection organization based in the Pacific Northwest, said an internal safety review released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services ignores the risks of government predator control programs. The wildlife advocacy group said the report, “Wildlife Services Program Safety Review: Evaluation of Current Safety Program and Identification of Safety Improvements,” glosses over the continuing threats the agency’s actions pose to its employees, the public, and the environment. Big Wildlife said Wildlife Services’ use of highly toxic poisons to kill top and mid-level carnivores pose an especially grave risk to people, wildlife, and national security.

“Today’s report is yet another attempt by Wildlife Services’ to whitewash its long and ugly history of slaughtering wildlife and putting the public at great risk,” said Brian Vincent, Big Wildlife’s Communication Director.

Wildlife Services employs a host of barbaric methods for killing carnivores including the use of two deadly poisons – Sodium Monofluoroacetate (commonly known as Compound 1080) and Sodium Cyanide. Compound 1080 was developed by the Nazis during World War II as a rat poison. To distribute 1080, Wildlife Services uses Livestock Protection Collars — rubber bladders strapped to the neck of a goat or sheep that, when pierced, release 1080. Compound 1080 is so lethal a single teaspoon can kill 100 people. M-44 projectile devices are spring-loaded, baited mechanisms that release sodium cyanide into the mouth of any animal who disturbs it. Compound 1080 and M-44s are both indiscriminate killers. Thousands of non-targeted animals, including domestic dogs and cats and imperiled species, also die from exposure to these hazards.

Both poisons present serious threats to national security. The EPA has rated 1080 and Sodium Cyanide in Toxicity Category I, the deadliest type of toxin known to man. The FBI has listed both as “super poisons” that are “highly toxic pesticides most likely to be used by terrorists or for malicious intent.” Federal investigators also suspect there is a black market for 1080. In fact, endangered gray wolves were illegally killed in the Northern Rockies by 1080. Despite these alarming risks, repeated audits by the Office of the Inspector General reveal the federal government has been unable to account for stockpiles of these poisons, that poisons used to kill wildlife have not been stored properly, and the toxics remained vulnerable to theft. Rep. Peter Defazio (D-OR) has introduced legislation to ban the use of Compound 1080 and M-44 devices.

“Wildlife Services is the Tony Soprano of wildlife management. The agency puts out a contract on animals and uses the most thuggish, brutal methods to snuff them out. These indiscriminate killing methods continue to put the public at risk,” said Vincent.

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