What dogs? “Song” dogs? you may ask. Unless you’re quite fond of them, you may not know that this is a term of endearment for coyotes. In general, they’re not very popular and quite a number of people call them varmints or pests and like them about as much as cockroaches. And because they dislike them, they want to eradicate them, wipe them out, get rid of them once and for all. In fact, close to 400,000 coyotes are being killed each year by state, local, and private agencies. That’s over 1000 animals a day!
By far the most successful killing outfitter is a little-known tax funded government agency with the misleading name of Wildlife Services. Besides coyotes, they’ve destroyed mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, black bears, beavers, porcupines, river otters, and wolves. They have killed millions of birds, from nonnative starlings to migratory shorebirds to federally protected golden and bald eagles. Primarily, the activities of this agency benefit private enterprise such as livestock producers. Wait a minute — with our tax money? Unfortunately, that’s right. They spend over $100 million every year to help agribusiness with predator control, with many unintended victims caught in the carnage.
They use some very nasty methods to deal with what they call predators, namely cyanide poison capsules called M-44s, leg-holds, snares, and body-grips. The Sacramento Bee published a graphic that illustrates how these barbaric instruments work. It belongs to a three-part article published in the Bee, appropriately called The killing agency: Wildlife Services’ brutal methods leave a trail of animal death.
But that’s not the only threat our coyotes face, not by a far stretch. Another particularly cruel and bloodthirsty method of coyote mass extermination involves organized killing contests where so-called hunters come together to shoot as many animals as they can, and the winner gets a prize. Yes, you guessed correctly, often it’s a semi-automatic rifle or something equally precious. The organizers promote the event as good, clean family fun. I’m not joking. What is going on in the mind of a person who happily and indiscriminately kills as many animals of a certain kind as possible? The coyotes have strong family ties and a strong social structure. By shooting adult animals, any pups or offspring will not be able to learn the necessary survival skills that their parents would teach them. But participants in killing contests don’t see them as living beings, only as commodities that can be disposed of. Children as young as six or eight years of age are encouraged to take part in the killings. They’re being indoctrinated that animals have no feelings and will grow up to become killers themselves.
The New Mexico legislature just voted down a bill that would have banned such contests. The bill was introduced by State Representative Nate Cole, in part because of strong public outcry against a few such events which recently took place in New Mexico. Even a number of hunters supported the bill, because of the unethical aspect of competitive killing. Please click on the link if you want to sign the petition to help stop the killing contests in New Mexico. Although New Mexico lawmakers struck the bill down, the opposition to such cruel animal slaughter remains strong.
Maybe by now you really want to know why coyotes evoke so much hate. Sheep- and cattle ranchers on the one hand, and the Game and Fish Department on the other are their most vocal and powerful enemies. Ranchers claim financial losses due to livestock killed by coyotes, although National Agricultural Statistics Service data show that more than 95% of losses are attributed to causes other than predation. And scientific studies claim that indiscriminate killing of coyotes actually results in a higher animal population because more females are likely to breed and the litter size and survival rates increase. Plus, there are numerous alternative methods from keeping carnivores away from domestic animals. However, these methods require a modicum of innovative and creative thinking, definitely not the strong point of largely conservative ranchers.
The New Mexico Game and Fish Department considers coyotes to be competitors in the deer and elk killing business. The G&FD sells licences to hunters who want to shoot game in New Mexico. A deer brought down by coyotes means less revenue for the Department, or so their reasoning goes. Facts show, however, that carnivores largely feed on small animals such as mice (who carry the deadly Hantavirus), rabbits, and other rodents as well as berries and cactus fruit. They’re not a serious threat to the game population. It might be useful to notice as well that some members of the New Mexico Game Commission, the governing body of Game and Fish, have strong ties to cattle ranchers and to the NRA. They are appointees of Governor Martinez, and at least one study shows a relationship between donated money and her appointments.
Here are some images which were taken from contest participants’ websites and Facebook pages. They’re gruesome.
She’s not even a year old, but my look-alike Bonnie has already made it through at least four different homes. The first one, she ran away from — barely three months old. No idea where she thought she was heading to, but she was running around on this busy street; maybe she wanted to hitch a ride, more likely she was getting herself run over by a car in no time. Well, a kind soul took pity on her and took her in, after many fruitless attempts to find her owners.
Uh, back to Bonnie. I have nothing against her (as long as she doesn’t move in with us) and I do wish her well, really. 
You’d think that nine lives would be quite enough, thank you very much, even for an adventurous cat like me. I don’t think I have many left, however, if any… With luck, what’s left will last me until ripe old age, now that I’ve found my home. It wasn’t easy, though — but let me tell you:
After what seemed like an eternity but was actually 8.3 miles as I learned later, something seemed to lift up my head and my spirits. I saw a tall, sturdy, long chain-link fence, and I don’t know what compelled me to climb across it — some sense of security, safety, even belonging, I guess.
After three dates for his execution had been overturned at the very last minute, the U.S.Supreme Court declined to hear Davis’s appeals on March 28, 2011 — setting the stage for the fourth try to execute him. All but two of the initial witnesses had recanted or altered their earlier testimonies. Many have confirmed in sworn affidavits that they had been coerced and pressured by the police to incriminate Davis. One of the two witnesses who adamantly sticks to his original story is Sylvester “Redd” Coles, the man who first implicated Davis and who has been identified as main alternative suspect by a number of witnesses.
Imagine an infant born to an unwed mother in a small, provincial town in Ireland, in the early 1950s. Imagine the tiny baby being left at the doorsteps of the Parish priest who finds a dutiful, but hardly loving foster family to raise the child. Imagine this child, around the age of eight or nine, discovering his predilection for girls’ clothes and make-up — and it wouldn’t surprise you to find a deeply troubled, depressed, distrustful, and confused boy. Not so our foundling Patrick Braden, who prefers to be called Kitten. He, or rather she — that’s how Kitten feels and thinks about herself — accepts that she is different, doesn’t try to fit in with the ordinary crowd, and stays true to herself even when this results in more difficult, rather than easier, circumstances.
Kitten stubbornly refuses to get bogged down by the seriousness of the “real world”. However, she’s not a mindless party-girl with a head full of fluff, not at all. She’s more like a wise Chinese sage, smiling detachedly at the follies everywhere around, while at the same time fearlessly jumping right into the thick of it. Or she is like a saint; early on, she warns us: “Not many people can take the tale of Patrick Braden, aka St. Kitten, who strutted the catwalks, face lit by a halo of flashbulbs as ‘oh!’ she shrieks, ‘I told you, from my best side darlings.’ ”
When they become teenagers, Pig in particular develops a predilection for violence which Runt goes along with and finds amusing. It’s almost as if every single shred of feeling he’s capable of is reserved for her; his love and devotion and affection for her is so absolute that there’s nothing left for others. 
One would think he eats babies for breakfast, or at least is suspected of murder. While the media often refer to rape in connection with the accusations against Assange, the official charges do not include rape but state sexual misconduct. Offenses that conventionally result in an international man-hunt? Hardly so.
In general, Japanese meals are presented in such an esthetically pleasing manner that one barely wants to eat it out of fear of destroying the balance of color and shape on one’s plate. This was particularly true here: numerous small or tiny dishes arranged to offer a feast for the eyes as well. Somehow, the care and attention that so obviously went into the preparation of the various components of the repast was almost palatable.
on the wall -- by jessica rath 