Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday signed a bill that bans wildlife killing contests. Similar legislation had languished in Albany for years.
“This legislation establishes strong safeguards for our state’s precious wildlife species and protects our important fishing and hunting traditions,” Hochul said in a statement.
“Sometimes policy takes patience,” said Michelle Land, professor of environmental law and policy at Pace University in Pleasantville. She co-leads the college’s Animal Advocacy Clinic, which had advocated for this year’s passage of S4099/A2917.
“Part of our lobbying was the message that it’s time to end things,” Land said Friday after Hochul announced that she had signed the legislation. “There’s been thousands of animals killed as this bill has lingered for years.”
Tossed in trash bin
The ban includes contests, derbys, competitions or tournaments that award the taking of the most wildlife, usually for prize money.
Animals often targeted include raccoons, bobcats, crows, wolves and other creatures that aren’t hunted for food, but are often tossed in a trash bin.
The Humane Society of the United States New York State Director Brian Shapiro called such cash-for-wildlife competitions “wasteful.”
“We thank and appreciate Governor Hochul for upholding sound policies that protect and celebrate our state’s precious wildlife resources,” he said.
Push for ban:Pace U students target ‘wildlife killing contests’ in New York
The bill does not change state hunting rules, which are seen by many as “fair chase” and respectful of conservationist philosophy. It also would not impact the protecting of livestock from nuisance animals.
Pace U class takes action
The bill this year became a pet project of Pace’s Animal Advocacy Clinic, a multidisciplinary course with one unifying prerequisite: That the students are animal lovers.
Land teaches it with co-instructor John Cronin, a former Hudson Riverkeeper.
Embedded in this recent clinic — an up-close examination of the legislative process.
The bill’s passage, Land said, is a follow-up to those lessons.
“I think that’s an important message for anyone who’s advocating,” Land said Friday, just after the governor announced her signature on the bill. “You don’t give up, you keep at it, you keep working.”
10th state to act
Nine states have enacted similar bans. A national ban of wildlife killing contests on public lands failed to get to a vote in Congress in 2022.
Sponsors of the new state ban are state Sen. Timothy Kennedy, a Democrat who represents the greater Buffalo region, and Assembly member Deborah Glick, a Democrat who represents lower Manhattan.
“These killing contests serve no conservation or scientifically backed ecological purpose and encourage senseless brutality,” Glick said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing after a decade of attempts.