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FLORIDA'S COYOTES & FOXES NEED YOUR VOICE!

Public outcry won a temporary ban on coyote and fox penning in Florida in February. Your voice was heard! And now we're asking you to speak out again, and this time it's an urgent request to prevent this cruel practice from being formally legalized.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will meet Wednesday, June 23, 2010 near Orlando and will decide whether to ban or regulate this practice. We need your help again to push for a permanent ban on penning!

Florida's pens, in which packs of domestic dogs are released on a captive coyote or fox, have been shut down temporarily since February, while FWC staff draft a formal "rule" to regulate the practice. This temporary ban came on the heals of an undercover FWC investigation of penning operations that led to the arrest of 12 people and the issuance of 46 citations for various violations.

Now the FWC is on the verge of legitimizing penning through adoption of rules- yet repeat past permit violators demonstrate that this practice cannot be regulated. FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto has publicly stated that he favors shutting down the pens permanently. We agree- and believe this heinous practice — like dog and cockfighting (now illegal in all U.S. states) — has no place in "civilized" society.

If you live in Florida, please attend and testify at the upcoming FWC meeting in Lake Mary (near Orlando) in support of a permanent ban on all coyote/fox pens statewide. Tell your Florida friends to attend too!

Date: June 23rd
Time: 8:30 am EST
Location: The Orlando Marriott
1501 International Parkway
Lake Mary, FL 32746
Phone: 407-995-1100

If you cannot attend, email or write to the FWC. Penning supporters are a very small, but vocal minority in Florida. The FWC needs to hear from Florida residents and visitors, who want to see coyote/fox pens abolished. Even if you have already written on this issue in response to our previous alerts, please send another letter since this is a different phase of the administrative process.

You can also submit comments directly online (mention your association with Florida-- i.e. you are a resident; you visit Florida often, etc):
myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Fox_CoyotePublicWorkshops.asp <http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Fox_CoyotePublicWorkshops.asp>


Or email a letter directly to the Commissioners at:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 South Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
EMAIL: Commissioners@MyFWC.com

POINTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR LETTER (remember to include your first and last name and your full address):

*You strongly support a permanent ban on the taking, killing and harassment of coyotes and red foxes for "penning" purposes;
*Coyote and fox penning is inhumane, ecologically reckless and counter to sound scientific management;
*There is nothing "sporting" about setting a pack of dogs into an enclosed pen against a helpless coyote or fox. Most penned coyotes and foxes become "live bait" and are literally torn apart and killed by the dog packs;
*This practice parallels dog and cockfighting – activities made illegal in all U.S. states in the last twenty years;
*The Commission won't be able to enforce rules or regulate this practice as past investigations have demonstrated;
*Transporting wild animals for penning purposes has directly led to the spread of rabies and other diseases; and
*Coyote/fox penning reflects badly on Florida where tourism is so important to the economy.

We are working to end the wanton abuse and cruelty of coyotes nationwide- from coyote "penning" to contest hunts and bounties. Check out Project Coyote's website <https://www.earthislandprojects.org/projectCoyote/donate.html> for updates on these issues to what we've been doing on behalf of America's native "song dog."

We need your help <https://www.earthislandprojects.org/projectCoyote/donate.html> to keep doing this important work. We can do it with your support! If you are not yet a member of Project Coyote, please consider joining our growing team today. To make a secure online donation now, visit Project Coyote's website <https://www.earthislandprojects.org/projectCoyote/donate.html> .

Camilla H. Fox, Executive Director
www.projectcoyote.org/action