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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2025
CONTACT: Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense, (541) 520-6003, brooks@predatordefense.org
Canyon's Law Would Protect Families, Dogs and Wildlife from Deadly Cyanide Bombs on Public Lands
Bill named to honor Pocatello teen who lost dog to M-44 poisoning
EUGENE, OR — Legislation introduced today by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) would ban government use of wildlife-killing M-44 devices, commonly known as ‘‘cyanide bombs,’’ on public lands. These devices are spring-activated ejectors containing a sodium cyanide capsule that delivers a deadly dose of the poison when triggered, shooting a cloud of cyanide powder up to five feet in the air. They have injured dozens of people and contributed to a Utah man's death. They also inhumanely kill countless dogs and thousands of wild animals each year, including endangered species.
This legislation was first introduced as "Canyon's Law" in 2017, following a string of tragic incidents involving M-44s. The most high-profile case occurred in Pocatello, Idaho, when 14-year-old Canyon Mansfield touched what he thought was a sprinkler head in the grass while taking a customary walk behind his home with his dog Kasey. In so doing, Canyon had inadvertently triggered an M-44 device. Its poison killed his dog and injured him. Canyon was only believed to have been spared from death due to wind direction.
“Working closely with M-44 cyanide bomb victims for more than 30 years, I have witnessed what these indiscriminate devices have done to families,” said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense, a national wildlife advocacy group. “Countless people have lost beloved pets, and both children and adults have been poisoned. The emotional scars are permanent."
Despite overwhelming public support for a nationwide ban on M-44s, the Environmental Protection Agency allows the devices to be used by Wildlife Services, the animal-killing program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in their attempts to control native predators like coyotes, foxes and wild dogs suspected of preying on wildlife. Federal agents last year reported using M-44s in 10 states: Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming. State agencies are also authorized to use them in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Texas.
According to Wildlife Services’ own data, their program killed over 10,000 animals with M-44s in just the last two years. Their kills over time consistently include nontarget species, including eagles, wolves, bears, bobcats, fishers, and family dogs. Since 1990 more than 50 family dogs have been documented as killed by M-44s and the full count is estimated to be much higher. According to reports by federal whistleblowers, many M-44 deaths are never reported. In addition, at least 42 people have accidentally triggered an M-44 since 1984. A Utah man, who was poisoned by an M-44 in 2003 and permanently disabled, died in 2018 with M-44 cyanide poisoning listed as a contributing cause on his death certificate. Former Wildlife Services agents state it is only a matter of time before an M-44 kills a child.
In 2023 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a ban prohibiting the use of M-44s by Wildlife Services on all 245 million acres of BLM lands. M-44s are currently not used on lands administered by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Bureau of Reclamation. However, multiple measures to expand M-44 use--including a bill introduced in the U.S. House in April--pose an increasing threat to public and animal safety.
"This is a nonpartisan, public safety issue," said Fahy. "The federal government has no justification for attempting to ‘manage’ native predators with a device that kills and poisons endangered species, wildlife, dogs and humans on our shared lands. Since M-44s can never be used safely, they must be banned, and a public lands ban is a great start.”
Original co-sponsors of Canyon's Law in the House include Representatives Suzan K. DelBene, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jan Schakowsky, and Dave Min. In the Senate, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders, Ron Wyden, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chris Van Hollan, Martin Heinrich, Adam Schiff, and Angela Alsobrooks. Text of the legislation is available for both House and Senate.
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Predator Defense is a national nonprofit advocacy organization devoted to protecting essential native predators, helping people learn to coexist with wild animals, and ending America's war on wildlife. They have been championing native predators with science, sanity, and heart since 1990.
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