pstrongDid you know that the village of Holley, N.Y. is preparing for another bloodbath on Feb. 22, the day it plans to host its annual Squirrel Slam?/strong/ppNonsensical, absurd, unethical and horrific are words that have been used to describe animal killing contests, yet the Holley, N.Y. Fire Department is once again planning its annual ldquo;Squirrel Slam,rdquo; a squirrel-shooting contest for children and adults disguised as a fundraiser.img alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/squirrel%20slam%20pic1.jpg” style=”width: 300px; height: 200px; margin: 8px; float: right;” //ppThe bloodbath is slated for Feb. 22, anda href=”https://www.facebook.com/events/602506446488072/” target=”_blank” Friends of Animals will lead a protest/a from 4:30 to 6 p.m. outside the Holley Fire Department located at 7 Thomas St., where hunters will bring dead squirrels to be weighed to claim prizes./ppLast year FoA, an international animal advocacy group founded in New York in 1957, mobilized supporters and took to the streets to protest this obscene contest and a href=”https://friendsofanimals.org/news/2013/april/squirrel-slam-video”released a mini documentary detailing its efforts/a. The videonbsp;also draws attention to Senate and Assembly bills that would ban animal killing contests in New York./ppldquo;Animal killing contests like the shocking lsquo;Squirrel Slamrsquo; held in Holley, N.Y. for the past eight years have no place in a civilized society, therefore, I strongly support passage of Senate Bill # 4074 to outlaw these killing contests,rdquo; New York state Sen. Tony Avella said. ldquo;At Friends of Animalsrsquo; urging, this is the second year Irsquo;ve pressed the Holley Fire Department to cancel the controversial lsquo;Squirrel Slamrsquo; in favor of a less violent way of raising money. Children as young as 12 should not be encouraged to shoot squirrels to win prizes. That practice is similar to bounty hunting. Killing contests like the lsquo;Squirrel Slamrsquo; provide an incentive to children and adults to shoot many animals to win prizesmdash; a disturbing, irrational activity thatrsquo;s out-of-pace with New York culture and must end throughout the state.rdquo;/ppAnimal killing contests, like pigeon shoots allowed in Pennsylvania, and the ldquo;Final Fling for Foxrdquo; hosted by the Bark at the Moon Coyote Club, slated Feb. 14nbsp; in New York, are part of a broader conversation on gun violence. The Holley event comes just over a year after a rifle wielding Adam Lanza committed mass murder at an elementary school, and earlier this month, a 12-year-old opened fire at a middle school and an elderly man fatally shot someone because he was text messaging during a movie./ppimg alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/480648_4936829377521_1438310973_n.jpg” style=”width: 200px; height: 268px; margin: 9px; float: left;” /ldquo;This is the second year FoAnbsp; is challenging the Holley Fire Department to cancel the violent, regressive lsquo;Squirrel Slam,rsquo; and our experiences protesting the event last year showed a sickening, gun-worshipping culture of adults, teenagers and children who celebrated the violence of mass animal killingmdash;cheering on the hunters as they waved fistfuls of dead squirrels in our faces and in the air, even plastered them on their cars, before they entered the fire house to weigh the corpses and win cash and gun prizes,rdquo; said Edita Birnkrant, FoArsquo;s NY Director. ldquo;Coyotes, squirrels and crows are frequently targeted in New York State in killing contests. The need to pass pending legislation to ban wildlife-killing contests in NY couldnrsquo;t be more urgent. Senate Bill # 4074 and Assembly Bill # 03661 would finally put an end to all competitions based on shooting and killing animalsmdash;we urge immediate passage of this critically important bill.rdquo;/ppNot only are the killing contests barbaric, they disrupt the natural order of wildlife and create vacuums, according to Ray Powell, commissioner of the New Mexico State Land Office. New Mexico introduced a bill to stop animal killing contests last year./ppFoA will continue to work with Avella and other legislators until animal killing contests become illegal./ppnbsp;/ppimg alt=”” src=”/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TakeActionLittle.jpg” style=”width: 192px; height: 49px;” //pp● Share oura href=”https://friendsofanimals.org/news/2013/april/squirrel-slam-video” target=”_blank” short video documenting our experiences/a in Holley, N.Y./ppnbsp;/ppiframe allowfullscreen=”” frameborder=”0″ height=”281″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/2oKE6ysZKD0″ width=”630″/iframe/pp● Tell the Holley Fire Department to organize a non-violent fundraiser instead of the lsquo;Squirrel Slam.rsquo; Write to them a href=”http://www.holleyfire.com” target=”_blank”on their website/anbsp;or call them at 585-638-6884./pp● New York residents should contact their state legislators, and ask them to sign on as co-sponsors and urge passage of the bill to ban wildlife-killing contests in NYmdash;Senate bill #4074 and Assembly bill #03661. Residents of other states shoulda href=”http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/” target=”_blank” contact their state legislators/a and ask that they propose legislation to ban animal-killing contests in their state./pp● Write a letter to the editor to one of New Yorkrsquo;s larger newspapers expressing support for Senate Bill #4074 and Assembly Bill #03661./p