Movie exposes wildlife travesties

The movie “EXPOSED” has been given rave reviews by Jane Goodall and she would like millions to see it. The 31-minute movie uncovers the secrecy of events that have been occurring on the war against wildlife for decades by the USDA Wildlife Services.

This is a Federal, rogue agency that has complete oversight over itself and has been that way since their inception in 1931. Their purpose has been to support the co-existence of both wildlife and the livestock industry…but nothing could be farther from the truth.

With the influence of big livestock lobbyists in Washington, this organization has morphed itself into a lopsided, tragic injustice against our wildlife. These actions have been shrouded in as much secrecy as possible.

Creator of the film, Brooks Fahy, states that often if a predator is even suspected of being close to livestock, the agency is promptly dispatched to destroy him. The predator doesn’t even have to have killed anything.

Two whistleblowers who used to work for the organization tell their stories in this haunting display of disturbing events. They are as follows:

1) The use of aircraft to gun down mountain lions from the sky (against the law)

2) The use of M-44s that trigger a spray of sodium cyanide into the mouth of the predator. (Nixon banned the use of this poison in 1972, but the USDA has had access to stockpiles of it that were intended to be destroyed and have been using it on wildlife for years. One teaspoon can kill up to 100 people.)

3) Cows, pigs, goats, sheep and dogs, etc. have also been victims to the deadly spray when it has accidentally gone off in areas that they have wandered into. The film displays pictures of some of these dogs and their grieving owners.

4) In more cases than not, they have stopped putting warning signs up in these dangerous areas because they feel that it gives them way too much exposure. Because of this thinking, many areas are left unposted. They have been known to not only set traps and poison in the woods, but also near towns, residential and rural areas.

5) They are exempt from state trapping rules that require them to not go longer than 24 hours to check traps. There was one story of a coyote that had been sitting in a trap for one or two weeks. They discovered tracks from another coyote all around him that had appeared to be bringing him food and keeping him alive. The iron trap had nearly severed its foot by the time the trap was checked.

6) But the most disturbing story was when they obtained dogs from the pound that were meant to be put to sleep. They took them to a dump to test their sodium cyanide spray on them. First, they watched them suffer, then they gave them the antidote, watched them recover, then re-sprayed them again followed by a swift kick to the ditch leaving them to suffer and die.

This was the turning point at which one of their employees became a whistle blower. He had commented that he loved dogs and he could no longer be a part of such actions. Not to his surprise, he was soon let go.

OUR WILDLIFE NEEDS US!

This movie suggests that the USDA Wildlife Services is so corrupt and so engrained in what they have done for so many years that there can be no reforming it. Others feel that it needs to be completely abolished.

There are those livestock owners who have had very successful operations in learning how to co-exist with predators, but the livestock industry as a whole is getting a free ride on taxpayer dollars as we continue to pay for this despicable behavior.

If you want to do something about this, call or write your congressman and complain. You can view this DVD online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSV8pRLkdKI or contact Predator Defense at www.predatordefense.org.

Bonnie Brown is a Benewah County resident.