Board of Supervisors votes 3 to 2 to End Contract with USDA Wildlife Services

Ukiah, CA — Wildlife advocates declared victory when the Mendocino Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday to terminate their contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program. Mendocino County, like most western counties, contracted with the federal program to kill native wild animals largely at the behest of ranchers and farmers. This victory comes after nearly a decade of attempts to hold Wildlife Services accountable to the public that funds their lethal activities in the county. In 2014, Project Coyote and allies appealed to county supervisors to end the contract with Wildlife Services after information revealed that a federal trapper had killed more than 400 dogs in the county during his course of business as a taxpayer-subsidized federal trapper. When the county refused to end the contract, Project Coyote and allies sued…