Wildlife Services is a branch of the USDA that traps, shoots and poisons over 1.7 million animals a year using taxpayer money. Because ranchers claim their livelihoods depend on federal help killing what they consider pests that sometimes prey on grazing animals, predatory species such as coyotes, foxes, wolves and other animals are brutally poisoned. Here's how the two deadliest poisons work:

- Compound 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) has no antidote, is so toxic that one teaspoonful could kill a hundred humans and is considered a potential chemical warfare agent by U.S. and Canadian security agencies. Small pouches of the poison are attached to collars on livestock animals and burst when punctured by a sharp object like a predator's teeth. It can take several agonizing days for the victim to finally die, and other species that feast on the tainted carcass may also suffer the same fate.

- The M-44 device is a small, spring-loaded aluminum cylinder with a lethal dose of poison inside and a baited covering outside to lure an animal to tug at it with its mouth. When activated, the device ejects sodium cyanide. Upon mixing with saliva, the toxin causes convulsions and a very painful death. Government agents place these indiscriminate contraptions partially buried on public and private lands. They kill threatened and endangered species and companion cats and dogs in the process.

The USDA's own data show that less than one percent of cattle losses in 2005 were caused by predators; most are attributable to disease and exposure. Meanwhile, killing coyotes paradoxically increases their numbers because when dominant members of the pack die, the survivors produce larger litters at a younger age. Non-lethal methods of protecting animals on farms -- including proper fencing, night penning and human herders  -- can dramatically reduce predation.

For all these reasons, Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has introduced H.R. 4775, the Compound 1080 and M-44 Elimination Act. This bill would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to:

- Ban the manufacture, processing, distribution, and possession of Compound 1080;
- Require the Secretary of Agriculture to inventory, collect, and destroy all existing stocks of this poison; and
- Prohibit the federal government's use of M-44s for controlling predatory animals.

Check to see whether your federal Representative is a co-sponsor of H.R. 4775. If not, please Take Action to ask him or her to become a co-sponsor.