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USDA Discontinues Use of "Cyanide Bombs" in Idaho After Boy and His Dog Are Sprayed

posted by on Sunday April 16 2017, @05:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the now-with-nerve-gas! dept.

takyon writes:

The USDA will stop using sodium cyanide "bombs" in Idaho (at least temporarily) following an incident that put a 14-year-old in the hospital and killed his dog:

About a month after an anti-predator device spit sodium cyanide in the face of an unsuspecting boy and killed his dog, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced it is ending its use of the M-44 mechanisms in Idaho indefinitely.

"We take seriously the incident in Idaho," Jason Suckow, western regional director of the USDA's Wildlife Services agency, told conservation groups in a letter Monday. "We immediately responded by removing all M-44s from the area, initiating an inquiry into the incident, and launching a review of current [Wildlife Services] operating procedures."

Suckow noted the agency has "removed all M-44s currently deployed on all land ownerships in Idaho" and has refrained from planting new ones.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @07:00PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 16 2017, @07:00PM (#494898)

    They've been in use since 1967.

    The previous generation had a .38 special cartridge to eject the capsule with more force, but that was replaced with a spring after too many people were injured or killed.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M44_(cyanide_device) [wikipedia.org]

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