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 WI State Senator Fred Risser has
proposed a bill to END wildlife killing contests in Wisconsin! SB 30/ AB
29 would prohibit contests for killing wild animals and providing a
penalty. The bill was introduced into the WI State Senate on 2/8/2019. SB 30
was immediately assigned to the
Senate Committee on Sporting Heritage, Mining and Forestry.
The
companion bill, AB 29, was introduced into the WI State Assembly on 2/22/19,
along with an amendement to change some of the language to cover
"certain" contests “killing the largest quantity of a wild
animal that is not a deer, elk, or fish." AB 29 was assigned to the
Assembly Committee on Sporting Heritage.
In his
memo to all WI legislators, Sen. Risser wrote: "In Wisconsin, there is no
prohibition to wildlife killing contests. These contests use various tactics to
attract, manipulate, confuse, and even temporarily blind wildlife in order to
kill as many animals as possible. Dogs, semi-automatic weapons, ATVs, traps,
snares, and snowmobiles are often used in such contests, including participants
chasing animals on snowmobiles to the point of exhaustion and running them over
repeatedly.
"Many hunters have condemned
these contests as unethical and say they create a bad name for those who hunt
ethically. This bill would prohibit all wildlife killing contests, much like
laws in California and Vermont which prohibit predator killing contests."
This
bill must have strong BIPARTISAN support in both houses of the legislature, as
well as a companion bill in the Assembly, to advance!
WHAT YOU CAN
DO:
THE 2019/2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
STANDS AJOURNED. Public hearings for this bill were never even scheduled for
either committee, so it never had a chance for a vote in the full House or
Assembly.
Please read the Bill
Summary, Talking Points, and further information from the links below. Then,
phone and/or email your own WI state legislators (both Senators and
Representatives) ASAP and ask that they support SB 30. (Click here to find your WI
representatives ). Try to keep your message brief, and be sure to give your
name, address, and phone number. Let your representative know that you are a
constituent. Please, ALWAYS be polite and respectful. Name-calling, and rude or
abusive letters or emails will hurt, rather than help, our cause.
Please check the
SB 30 Bill History for the lastest list of cosponsors. If
you live in the district represented by any of them, THANK him/her for
supporting this bill and let him/her know that you support it also.
It's not too late to add
cosponsors. If you are not a constituent of any of the current bill cosposors,
please ask your Senator AND Representative to cosponsor and SUPPORT "SB 30
relating to: prohibiting contests for killing wild animals and providing a
penalty", which would end the killing of wild animals for entertainment.
Please ask your Representative
to SUPPORT, cosponsor and/or introduce an Assembly companion bill to "SB
30 relating to: prohibiting contests for killing wild animals and providing a
penalty", which would end the killing of wild animals for entertainment.
Contact all members of the
Senate Committee on Sporting Heritage, Mining and Forestry
and ask that they pass the bill out of committee for discussion by the full
Senate.
When emailing, please put
"SUPPORT SB 30 banning wildlife killing contests" in the Subject
line.
Also, please post your
support on your Representative's and Senator's Facebook pages!
 Find your WI State
Representatives
Bill Summary (by the Legislative Reference Bureau):
"This bill prohibits the
organization of and participation in contests for killing wild animals.
“Contest” is defined as an organized or sponsored competition with
the objective of taking, capturing, or killing a wild animal for entertainment
or for the chance to win designated prizes. “Contest” does not
include a lawful fishing tournament. The bill prohibits a person from doing any
of the following: 1) organizing, conducting, or sponsoring a contest; 2)
providing a venue for a contest; and 3) participating in a contest. A violation
of these prohibitions is punishable by a forfeiture."
SB 30 Full Bill Text
Find your WI State
Representatives
|
Talking Points/Links for
More Information:
"Killing
contests" are not hunting; they are indescriminate slaughter of the target
animal.
Animals killed
include coyotes, bobcats, foxes, mountain lions, wolves, squirrels, rabbits,
and others.
Proposed law would ban all hunting contests in Wisconsin,
By Emily Davies,WSAW-TV, February 8, 2019
For more
information, please see Project Coyote's
A
Barbaric Bloodsport: END WILDLIFE KILLING CONTESTS
Tom Saler, The Cap
Times:
End wildlife-killing contests in Wisconsin and around the
country
The Political
Environment:
Risser Bill Would Ban Wildlife-Killing Contests in
Wisconsin
Stable coyote packs benefit farms and communities, Carly
Summers, Sun Community News, May 16, 2018
Why wildlife
killing contests cannot be justified ecologically or ethically, Project
Coyote’s letter about why wildlife killing contests cannot be justified
ecologically or ethically – signed by more than 50 scientists from across
North America.
New York Times:
Plague confirmed in third Wyoming cat in last six months
"Marshall
Lions 2-Day Super Hunts"
Brochure. The hunt was part of a "family
friendly" "Ice Fisheree Festival" that featured free door prizes
for the kids, and a free kids raffle., Bags tournament, Fish Toss, Euchre
tournament, (2) Texas Hold’em tourneys, Snow Sculpting competition, Flag
Football tournament, Outhouse races on land, DJ with dancing, and lots of
raffles and prizes, as well as Rabbit and Coyote Hunts. (http://www.sightfirst.com/ice-fisheree-ice-events/)
Putting an End to Wildlife Killing Contests, by 8 O'Clock
Buzz, WORT Community Radio in Madison, WI, January 28, 2019. Producer Kai Brito
speaks to the leader of a national non-profit, Camilla Fox, founder and
executive director of Project Coyote, to learn just how wildlife killing
contests are impacting the environment.
SB 30/ AB 29 Full Bill Text SB
30 Bill History AB
29 Bill History
SB 30/AB 29
Summary Talking
Points/Informational Links
Find your WI State
Representatives
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