The United States Department of Agriculture has issued a temporary ban of M-44 predator traps in the State of Idaho following the injury of a resident.
Last month in Pocatello, Idaho, 14-year-old Canyon Mansfield was walking with his Labrador retriever called Casey. The two were on one of their exploratory missions when they noticed a sprinkler-head-like item about 500 yards from their house. Canyon bent down to investigate the device. When he touched it though, the device did not sprinkle water on him as he expected. Instead, it splashed him and his dog with a substance that sickened him and killed his dog.
What is the M-44 cyanide trap?
The device Canyon Mansfield is one of many traps used by the Wildlife Services Division of the USDA to kill livestock predators. They are referred to as M-44 cyanide traps. The cyanide traps resemble the average water sprinkler but sprinkle predators with cyanide intended to kill them. The M-44s are primarily used in dealing with wild coyotes and feral dogs.
Canyon Mansfield’s case is not the first to occur. In the past month alone, Wyoming has recorded the death of two pet dogs in a similar circumstance to Casey’s. According to USDA records, in fact, the traps have culminated in the death of over twenty pets and livestock in Idaho in the past four years. Because of the high risk associated with the devices, nineteen activists groups had filed a petition to ban the use of the M-44 cyanide traps within Idaho. The petition also cited the proximity of the devices’ placement to residential areas as another reason to declare their use illegal.
Speaking to the press after the Mansfield boy incident, Jason Sockow, the Regional Director for Wildlife Services, declared that the agency would cease its use of the device in Idaho immediately. “We take the incident that occurred in Pocatello very seriously. With immediate effect, the Wildlife Services group will cease all use of the M-44 devices on all land, whether privately, federally or state-owned,” Sockow said. Sockow also remarked that the ban would be in place temporarily. Furthermore, Sockow said, a 30-day notification would be issued to residents of Idaho before the M-44s were placed back on land.
The moratorium, though welcomed, was not completely accepted. Mark Mansfield, the father of the boy who fell ill after the M-44 explosion, stated that a temporary ban was not enough. “Clayton experienced headaches and was sick for a long time after the incident. I would not like the same thing to happen to anyone else, so I think the ban should be made permanent,” Mansfield commented.
Andrea Santarsierc, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, agreed with Mansfield. “Because there is always a risk that the trap will hurt somebody else, it should not only be banned from use in Idaho Sate alone but nationwide,” she said. US Rep. Peter DeFazio must have had the same idea because he proposed a bill to ban not only the use of the M-44 cyanide traps but also of another chemical-base trap called the Compound 1080.
The M-44 cyanide trap is also responsible for the death of the Mexican gray wolves, grizzly bears and other protected species in the area.
