By Laura Goldman From Care2

“Love seeing kids this excited about being outside!!” South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem wrote on her Facebook page April 6. “Let’s get kids away from the x-box and out with the live box!”

Accompanying the governor’s post are super creepy photos of young children. A little girl makes a thumbs-up gesture next to a raccoon that appears to be dead. Another child smiles next to a raccoon that’s visibly terrified inside a cage.

Please go back inside to your Xboxes, kids—to where at least whatever you kill isn’t real.

Noem’s post is in regard to South Dakota’s disturbing new first-of-its-kind Nest Predator Bounty Program, which the state launched on April Fool’s Day but is sadly not a joke. From April 1 to Aug. 31, 2019, or until a $500,000 cap is reached, the South Dakota Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) is offering residents young and old $10 for each tail of a raccoon, striped skunk, opossum, badger or red fox they turn in.

Last month, the state gave away about 16,500 live traps to residents. During just the first few days of the bounty program, residents turned in 300 tails to GFP offices around the state.

South Dakota launched The Nest Predator Bounty Program without a public hearing. About a dozen people submitted comments to the GFP supporting the program, while about 100 opposed it, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. A letter to the GFP from eight state wildlife and sportsmen’s groups asked that the program be delayed until it had been vetted.

The purpose of the program is to protect the nests of pheasants and ducks (and undoubtedly to keep those hunting profits pouring into the economy). But during a public forum on April 4, the Rapid City Journal reports that some people said they were opposed to killing indigenous wildlife to protect pheasants, which aren’t native to South Dakota. One resident, Jamie Al-Haj, pointed out that rather than predators, it’s human activity, like using chemical fertilizers and draining wetlands, that’s a bigger danger to the state’s pheasant and duck populations.

Some South Dakotans are justifiably concerned about the negative impact the program could have on the state’s ecosystem. “You take out the small predators, and then pretty soon you have a whole bunch of rabbits and rodents that people are going to be complaining about,” May Wichers said at the forum. “Are you going to kill them next? Are you going to have a bounty on that? It’s all a circle.”

Supporters of the Nest Predator Bounty Program say it will bring back South Dakota’s trapping tradition by getting more young people involved. “It’ll make them better hunters and sportsmen,” Mark DeVries of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association said at the forum.

The Argus Leader reports that GFP Secretary Kelly Hepler told the department the program’s success won’t be determined by the potential 50,000 dead animal tails but by the “heartwarming stories” of families getting together outdoors to trap.

“Heartwarming?” More like blood-chilling.

I’m with Julie Marie, who wrote in a comment with over 1,400 likes on Noem’s Facebook post that she took her children outside—to pick up trash on the 10-acre property they share with animals. “They didn’t think about Fortnite for an entire day, and didn’t have to kill any animals to do it,” she wrote.

“Why not get your kids outside in the garden?” wrote Jessa Marion in another comment with over 1,400 likes. “Teach them to nurture life, not take it.”

It’s the 21st century, after all, and humane and effective alternatives to trapping are widely available. There is no reason to revive this cruel “sport”, and it’s deeply disturbing to encourage children to terrorize animals.

TAKE ACTION

There are better ways to deal with nest predators than by encouraging people to kill them for fun and profit. Please sign and share this petition telling South Dakota to end its Nest Predator Bounty Program.

If you want to make a difference on an issue you find deeply troubling, you too can create a Care2 petition, and use this handy guide to get started. You‘ll find Care2‘s vibrant community of activists ready to step up and help you.

Photo credit: Rich Bowen/Flickr

For more on this story go to: https://www.care2.com/causes/south-dakota-governor-wants-kids-to-kill-animals-for-fun-and-profit.html