Not friendly to coyotes
Has coyote-killing craziness invaded our village? After the outcry over Calibers Shooter Sports Center sponsoring a coyote hunt has subsided (with Calibers graciously withdrawing their support), an email from a well-known CHAMP member has made its way around Corrales.
In this email, CHAMP members are invited to the Juan Tomas Hounds Coyote Hunt, whereby using dogs and horses, guests chase wild coyotes with the intent of killing them for fun. Although the email warns that they very rarely have a kill, support of an activity like this by an esteemed Corrales animal-welfare group is appalling.
While I acknowledge that at times coyotes on ranches need to be thinned, making it into a contest or some kind of sick party event is in terribly poor taste. As an “animal-friendly village” that reminds people that “Coyotes live in Corrales,” it is unthinkable that the Corrales Horse and Mule People would promote such an event.
Dawn M. Janz, Corrales
Poor excuse to kill
On November 17 and 18, a Los Lunas business, Gunhawk Firearms, sponsored a coyote hunt to supposedly help protect ranchers from predation of their cattle. Having been raised in southwest New Mexico on ranch land, I can attest to the fact that cattle die for many reasons, but coyote predation is least likely. Lightning strikes, bloat, and various diseases kill cattle and other farm animals. The coyote is an opportunist and certainly will feast on a dead carcass, leaving footprint evidence around the area which leads many a rancher to suspect the coyotes were responsible for the kill.
Coyotes hunt smaller animals, particularly rodents and other critters. Decimating the coyote population will only throw off the already delicate balance of nature. This hunt was nothing more than a group of humans going out and killing for their own entertainment. The gun shop owner stated in one interview that he was donating the pelts to a charity. I hope his offer is refused, since most charities don’t condone killing to support their work.
Judy Paulsen, Corrales