skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NM Bill Introduced to Stop Animal-Killing Contests

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 6, 2013   

SANTA FE, N.M. - A bill which would put an end to animal-killing contests in New Mexico is receiving the support of the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club.

House Bill 316 is the result of widespread dismay over a recent killing contest promoted by a gun store in Los Lunas. The highly publicized contest was only one of numerous such contests held around the state.

"House Bill 316 outlaws any organized competition to go out and kill large numbers of animals for a prize," said bill sponsor Rep. Nate Cote, D- Doña Ana and Otero counties, a hunter himself. "There are penalties involved, for example, up to a $5,000 fine."

While opposition is expected from those who use the contests to raise funds, Cote believes he will get a lot of support for the bill, not only from groups concerned about animals and the environment but also from hunters and people who fish. Animal-killing contests reflect badly on New Mexico and on sportsmen, he said, calling the contests "unethical" and charging that they counteract the balance of nature.

Ecologically speaking, said Ray Powell, commissioner of the New Mexico State Land Office, animal killing contests are "nonsensical."

"If you have a specific predator that's causing a problem for domesticated livestock or companion animals, you deal with that animal specifically, quickly and humanely," he said. "That's very different than blowing these animals up and filling your pickup truck with carcasses."

Powell said these killing contests disrupt the natural order of things, which, in the case of coyotes, benefits from rodent control and reducing the occurrence of plague and diseases native to New Mexico. Additionally, he said, these contests create a vacuum, drawing younger coyotes to move in en masse.

Despite the spotlight turned on the coyote-killing contest held in November, Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chairwoman for the Sierra Club chapter, mentioned a high school on the eastern plains that sponsored one to raise money for the track team. She said this is not at all unusual around the state.

"They're actually very common. But mostly they don't like to publicize what's going on because I think they realize the public is pretty outraged by it. You can sometimes find allusions to them on predator Web sites."

The text of the bill is online at nmlegis.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021