March 14, 2000
Boulder, CO. Rocky Mountain Animal Defense (RMAD) filed suit against the State of Colorado last Wednesday for failing to prevent prairie dog colonies from being poisoned. The suit was filed in Boulder County District Court and included a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), aimed at preventing state wildlife officials from continuing to refuse to enforce the state-wide ban on poisoning. The TRO was not granted but the case was set for trial in late March.
In a 400-page complaint, RMAD names Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Wildlife Commission, and Governor Bill Owens as defendants. It charges that these agencies and officials have failed, and even refused, to enforce Article XVIII, section 12 (b) of the Colorado Constitution, which prohibits the indiscriminate poisoning of wildlife. This constitutional amendment, passed by Colorado voters in 1996, prohibits the use of steel-jaw leghold traps, body-snare gripping devices, and poisons to kill wildlife. Although prairie dogs themselves are not protected under the amendment, many of the animals who inhabit prairie dog burrows, and are killed when prairie dog colonies are poisoned, are protected under this law. Those protected animals-including cottontail rabbits, bull snakes, weasels, badgers, foxes and others-are being poisoned illegally, according to RMAD.
Citing a lack of time, District Court Judge Morris Sandstead ruled that he
could not enter a TRO because RMAD's complaint contained such "hard-hitting"
and "weighty" issues, and "cutting-edge" legal theories.
Sandstead insisted that the case be immediately set for trial, over the objection
of the DOW, represented by the State Attorney General's office, who requested
a dismissal of the case. The defendants alleged that RMAD did not have standing
to pursue the lawsuit, but the judge declined to rule on that matter before
a complete trial could be heard. A trial on whether the State of Colorado
should enforce the law regarding illegal poisonings of wildlife is expected
to be held in late March. If RMAD is successful, a preliminary injunction
forcing the State to uphold this constitutional provision will be ordered.
This order has the potential of effectively halting prairie dog poisonings
across the state.
Bettina Rosmarino, RMAD's prairie dog program coordinator, states: "The State of Colorado has shown a continued refusal to adequately protect the prairie dog ecosystem. Species protected by constitutional amendment who use prairie dog burrows are consequently robbed of much needed protection. We demand that the DOW and other agencies and state officials enforce the law, even if that means confronting powerful economic interests."
"Despite our repeated requests, the DOW and the State of Colorado have turned a blind eye to the illegal poisonings taking place on a weekly basis. Protected animals are being poisoned, and it is the DOW's duty to make sure that doesn't happen," states Nicole Rosmarino, RMAD's wildlife coordinator. "We would guess that if a popular hunting species such as elk were being gunned down illegally, the DOW would act."
Rocky Mountain Animal
Defense is a non-profit Colorado organization whose mission is to help eliminate
the human-imposed suffering of animals in the Rocky Mountain region.
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