Coyote-Killing Contest Bill Passes NM Senate

Wildlife advocates are cheering passage of a bill in the New Mexico Senate on March 9 that would prohibit hunting coyotes as a contest.

Senate Bill 268 arose from outcries against groups that began organizing coyote hunts for cash and prizes several years ago, but the legislation had failed to pass twice already. Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair for the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande chapter, called the contests “biologically unnecessary” and said she thinks they should be outlawed.

“Sometimes, they even get prizes for killing the biggest coyote, or the smallest coyote, which to me is just the worst aspect of a horrible practice,” she said. “This means you get a prize for killing the smallest coyote puppy.”

Shops such as Gunhawk Firearms in Las Lunas are among the places that host more than 30 of these events a year. They award prizes ranging from shotguns to semi-automatic rifles and say they make charitable contributions with their profits.

The bill would not penalize killing coyotes as a protection for humans or pets, or any other reason than to win a prize. Contestants have said they are helping ranchers with overpopulation of a nuisance animal, but Ray pointed out that coyotes actually help control populations of some animals that do need to be culled.

“These animals, in fact, are limited by their food supply,” she said. “They don’t overpopulate. But their food supply does – rabbits, mice, other rodents really do need predators to keep their populations in check.”

Senate Bill 268 moves on to the House of Representatives, where similar bills have died before. Wildlife advocates are hoping it gets to the governor’s desk before the session ends next week.

The text of SB 268 is online at nmlegis.gov.

Brett McPherson, Public News Service – NM

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Update 3/14/2017

Good news! SB268 was assigned to only one committee in the House after its successful passage in the Senate. Judiciary is a friendly committee, and we feel confident about passage there, so you need to keep nudging it.

Please call or write your representative NOW and urge him or her to vote “Yes” on SB268, no coyote-killing contests. It’s close, but we have a real shot of passing this bill after years of banging our heads against the wall.