Victory for Arizona Wildlife!
Posted on , updated onOn Sept 4th, the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (GRRC) unanimously approved the rule to ban predator killing contests. GRRC went a step further by including recommendations by ADLA and other groups to shorten the proposed effective date to 60 days, and to review the rule in March 2021 to ensure its efficiency.
Wildlife killing contests are organized events in which participants compete for prizes based on the number of animals killed. Hundreds of animals—including coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and mountain lions are killed at these barbaric events all year long in Arizona.
ADLA worked on the first attempt to outlaw predator contest hunts which passed in 1999 but was overturned by GRRC. Now, 20 years later, Arizona has finally banned the killing of wildlife for fun and prizes.
ADLA thanks GRRC, the AZ Game & Fish Commission, and all the organizations and advocates for their efforts to pass this rule which makes Arizona the fourth state to ban wildlife killing contests. We extend special thanks to the grassroots coalition members that led the campaign, including Betsy Klein, Kristina Meredith, Lain Kahlstrom, and Matt Francis. Also thanks to attorney Daniel Muchow, former Dewey-Humboldt Town Councilman Doug Treadway, biologist Emily Renn, Joe Trudeau, Sandy Bahr, Kate Scott, Vincent Jones, Ruthanne Penn, and others. This victory would not have been possible without all the citizens who submitted thousands of comments in support of the ban.