Update: New Federal Legislation Puts Mute Swans in Danger

Last year, Friends of Animals opposed a plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Atlantic Flyway Council to kill more than 30,000 mute swans by shooting 3,100 annually for the next 10 years in the Atlantic Flyway states of Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Delaware, Maine, Connecticut, South Carolina, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

Friends of Animals provided research and arguments to expose the spurious scientific arguments behind the plan, and mobilized opposition through advertisements and a letter-writing campaign. The plan was derailed following public pressure on the agency to acknowledge the protected status of mute swans under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The 88-year-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits hundreds of bird species that migrate across international borders from being killed or harassed.

Not content to leave the mute swans in peace, legislators are now looking to amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in a way that would allow the birds to be shot. On April 1, Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, which would amend the MBTA to exclude non-native species of migratory birds. If it passes, HR 4114 would remove the only federal protection standing in the way of the implementation of this killing program and the shooting of tens of thousands of mute swans.

What you can do:

Please contact your Congressional Representatives and ask them to actively oppose HR 4114. You can locate your Representatives at http://www.congress.org

The Honorable ______________
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Congressional Switchboard 202-224-3121

As Act•ionLine goes to press, a Senate bill has not yet been introduced. Please contact your Senators and ask that they actively oppose any legislative effort to remove species currently under protection from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. You can locate your Senators at http://www.congress.org

The Honorable ______________
United States Senate
Washington, DC
20510
Congressional Switchboard 202-224-3121