The Trump administration has reauthorized the use of highly toxic “cyanide bombs” to kill wildlife that ranchers and farmers want eliminated. The controversial spring-loaded traps, called M-44s, are filled with sodium cyanide and are used by the Wildlife Services division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to kill animals such as foxes, bears, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and birds at the behest of private farmers and ranchers. Critics say the toxins can forever contaminate the environment, kill a far wider population of unintended victims, including pets, and harm humans. “Cyanide traps can’t be used safely by anyone, anywhere,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity environmental organization, which has long battled the traps. “These deadly devices have caused too much harm to remain in use. We need a permanent nationwide ban to protect people, pets and imperiled wildlife from this poison.” Two years ago, one of the death traps was triggered in Pocatello, Idaho, as 14-year-old Canyon Mansfield was walking his dog, Casey. The dog died a violent death in front of Canyon, and the teen was rushed to a hospital, where he eventually recovered from exposure to the poison in the trap set by federal workers. His parents are suing Wildlife Services over his poisoning.

Photo courtesy of Theresa Mansfield Canyon Mansfield with his beloved dog, Casey, in a photo provided in 2017. Casey was killed by a triggered cyanide bomb, and Canyon was hospitalized.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday ruled that the cyanide bombs can again be used. The toxic traps cannot be used within 100 feet of public roads or trails. But the devices are so dangerous that they should be banned, say environmental activists. “EPA is blatantly ignoring its fundamental duty to protect the public, our pets and native wildlife,” said Kelly Nokes, an attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. Officials had stopped using the traps in Idaho after the Mansfield case and in Colorado following a lawsuit by environmentalists. Oregon has banned the traps. CBD said that 99.9% of all comments sent to the EPA about the bombs opposed the reauthorization of the poison for predator control.

M-44s are horrific death traps full of cyanide that kill thousands of unsuspecting animals every year, even pets. Despite overwhelming public opposition, the Trump administration just reauthorized their use: https://t.co/LLojBrJkHd — Center for Bio Div (@CenterForBioDiv) August 7, 2019