Nevada bill could ban any wildlife killing contests

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Animals like bobcats, squirrels, and coyotes are unprotected here in Nevada. This means it’s legal to hunt, trap, and kill coyotes.

Competitions like coyote killing contests are held throughout the state with winners typically getting big cash prizes.

A bill that was presented to the state legislature, A.B. 102 would stop this.

“It would stop people from having these contests go on and kill as many as they can the primary target in Nevada are coyotes and at the end of the contest and they all meet at a point and determine who got the biggest kill,” said Rebecca Goff, state director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Goff is the state director for the humane society of the United States, she says coyote killing contests are inhumane.

Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Washington have banned wildlife killing contests already, Goff says Nevada needs to step up.

“It’s appalling these are not traditional hunting where there’s fair chase where they don’t have want and wast these folks are just going to kill as many as they can, these contests don’t do anything to prevent predators they don’t work as predator control,” said Goff.

Opponents of the bill say this would impact rural counties.

Joel Blakeslee is with the Nevada Trappers Association, hee says hunting, fishing, and other recreational sports is essential to rural counties in the state.

He adds these contests are cost-effective and needed to be done.

“You go out in the country and people see it differently than Downtown Las Vegas and people downtown probably don’t even think about out in rural counties they don’t have fancy restaurants they have churches, high schools, bars and they go hunting and fishing for outdoor recreation,” said Blakeslee.

Blakeslee adds, “State and federal governments spend one fund has a million dollars a year so if we’re paying to do control what’s wrong with doing it for free.”

If the bill passes anyone caught organizing a competition could be fined between $5,000 and $30,000 and anyone caught participating could face fines between $50 and $1,000.

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