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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 25, 2026
CONTACT:
Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense, (541) 520-6003, brooks@predatordefense.org
Victims and Experts Speak Out against M-44 Cyanide Bombs Returning to BLM Lands, Due to Countless Dog Deaths and Human Poisonings
Letter urges Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management heads to cease M-44 use for predator control, citing public safety menace
EUGENE, OR — In a heartfelt and highly detailed letter sent to top federal officials, numerous victims of M-44 devices from 1994 to present who have lost their dogs or been poisoned themselves spoke of the urgent need to stop using the devices for predator control, due to public safety concerns. The letter also includes lists of incidents and deaths and key observations from experts, including physicians, a veterinarian, a scientist, a former wildlife agent, and a former Congressman.
Their plea, made to Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior, and Stevan Pearce, Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), comes in response to the administration's decision in April 2026 to allow M-44s, commonly referred to as "cyanide bombs," to return to almost all 245 million acres of the BLM's public lands. This decision reverses the 2023 ban.
Long used by government agents to kill coyotes and other predators, M-44s 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 to date, contributed to a Utah man's death, and inhumanely killed thousands of animals every year, including endangered species and dogs. Additionally, Wildlife Services whistleblowers report that countless nontarget animal deaths go unreported.
“Working closely with M-44 cyanide bomb victims since 1994, I have witnessed what these indiscriminate devices have done to families who have lost beloved pets, been poisoned themselves, or potentially lost a child,” said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense. “Countless people have been traumatized. The emotional scars are permanent."
“I lost my dog Ruby and was injured myself by an M-44 cyanide device illegally set on my family’s farm near Harrisburg, OR," said Amanda Wood Kingsley, the first victim Fahy assisted in 1994. "It took 15 horrifying minutes for Ruby to die. She was gasping and crying with her head arched back, eyes wild, fighting for air. Her strong legs thrashed and with every choking breath she let out a screaming moan. A month later I learned from the poison center that I had also suffered classic cyanide poisoning symptoms, including an irregular heartbeat and arms going numb from the shoulders down. They expressed surprise that I had survived the first 24 hours. For the federal government to now reverse the 2023 BLM ban on M-44s is nothing short of medieval. I hope they will reconsider and save other people from suffering similar or worse nightmares.”
“My husband Dennis Slaugh was poisoned while we were rock hunting on BLM land in 2003," said Dorothy (Slaugh) Hullinger. "There were no warning signs, so we were just out enjoying our day. Dennis saw what he thought was a survey marker and touched it to see what township and range it was from. It was an M-44 cyanide device and it exploded in his face. He would have been better off if the cyanide had killed him quickly, because he would not have had to endure so much suffering. But he lived another 15 years, permanently disabled and with multiple medical problems brought on by the poisoning. I don’t want anyone else to succumb to the same inhumane death or near deaths that have been endured. I don’t want another wife, mother, child, husband, father, grandparent, or pet owner to suffer the same type of loss. Falling victim to the effects of cyanide released from an M-44 device causes horrifying pain and suffering. Please stop using M-44s on public lands.” View Slaugh's death certificate listing M-44
The public repeatedly expresses surprise that these dangerous devices continue to be used, especially after a well-known tragedy in 2017 in Pocatello, Idaho. Canyon Mansfield was 14 years old when he inadvertently triggered an M-44 device, thinking it was a sprinkler head. The M-44 had been illegally set on BLM land on a hill behind his home. It killed Canyon's dog, Kasey, and injured him. Canyon was only believed to have been spared from death due to the wind’s direction.
“The decision to allow M-44s to be used on BLM lands again a mind-blowing step backwards," said Mark Mansfield, M.D., Canyon's father. "An M-44 cyanide bomb, set by the USDA’s Wildlife Services program, stole a cherished member of my family—our dog Kasey, an irreplaceable piece of my son’s innocence, and my entire community’s sense of security. Canyon experienced excruciating headaches for over a month, all day long and through the night without relief for five weeks with nausea, vomiting, numbness in his hands, and crushing insomnia. We did everything we could to bring him comfort, but there are no tests for a sublethal dose of sodium cyanide and there is no effective treatment for the irreversible physical effects of cyanide poisoning, much less the accompanying emotional and psychological trauma.”
“My brother’s poisoning and the loss of our dog changed my family forever," said Madison Mansfield, Canyon's sister. "I still remember the fear and confusion that followed. In an instant, a walk on public land turned into a tragedy that killed our family dog and exposed my brother to a dangerous poison. What many people don’t see is that the impact didn’t end that day. Even now, nearly a decade later, the memories remain vivid and this event remains part of our family’s story. The knowledge that devices capable of causing this kind of harm could be placed in areas where children, families, and pets recreate is deeply troubling. No family should have to experience the trauma, uncertainty, and loss that ours has endured because of a cyanide bomb. Bringing cyanide bombs back to public lands ignores the very real harm they have caused to families like mine.”
The April 2026 Memorandum of Agreement between DOI and BLM says that M-44s will be used sparingly, safely, and on a “case-by-case basis.” But the facts of M-44 use defy the feasibility of their plans. There are more people who recreate on public lands than ever before, and there is no safe place or method for using these devices, as no dog, small child or wild animal can read a warning sign.
“Returning these poison land mines to almost all 245 million acres of BLM lands meets the definition of insanity," said Peter DeFazio, U.S. Congressman, 1987-2022. "The American public is once again being put in harm’s way to satisfy a handful of ranchers who want their land free of predators no matter what the cost. They want to outsource their duty to protect their livestock to an indiscriminate killing device. Word to the wise: don’t let your kids or dogs walk on public lands.”
Illuminating comments about cyanide bomb use also come from those who have worked for USDA Wildlife Services.
“I spent decades supervising government trappers who used M-44s, so when I say this country does NOT need sodium cyanide in its arsenal of predator-killing methods, it is from first-hand experience" said Carter Niemeyer, former USDA Wildlife Services trapper and Montana district supervisor. "Many trappers refuse to use them, for fear of what could happen. They know that if their dog triggered one, they were dead. Personally speaking, I couldn’t sleep at night if I still had an M-44 out. I don’t believe M-44s should ever be used on public lands. There is virtually no place people do not go and signage doesn’t work. These devices should stay part of the past, as they have no place in a humane world.”
Meanwhile, the best available science shows that killing coyotes is counter-productive.
“Based on my past as a coyote trapper, and then as a scientist studying coyotes for 37 years, I can unequivocally say that indiscriminate killing of coyotes is a complete waste of time, economically and ecologically," said Robert Crabtree, Ph.D., conservation biologist and renowned coyote expert. "It also usually makes the problem worse. It creates populations that are more educated, younger, bolder, and consequently more willing to invade farms, ranches and cities to prey on domestic species in order to produce more pups. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, it certainly applies to resuming the use of M-44s.”
Public demand for a ban has increased over time and is largely attributed to major media coverage of M-44 tragedies and popular statewide bans on the West Coast. Legislation introduced in Congress in June 2025 called "Canyon's Law" would ban government use of M-44s on federal public lands. It is valid through the end of 2026 and currently gaining cosponsors.
"The 2019 statewide Oregon ban and the 2023 BLM ban were pivotal moments that demonstrated a national ban is possible," said Fahy. "M-44s are a nonpartisan public safety menace, but it appears that the BLM and Wildlife Services currently want to continue poisoning people and killing beloved dogs, nontarget wildlife, and potentially a child, with impunity. I hope they'll change their minds, as the bottom line is this: M-44s can never be used safely, as no dog, wild animal, or young child can read a warning sign."
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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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