Tell Congress: Stop Poison Cyanide Traps on Our Public Lands

Imagine taking your dog for a walk on public land—only for them to stumble upon a hidden device that ejects deadly cyanide into the air. Within minutes, your pet is gone. You’re left exposed, disoriented, and terrified. This isn’t a nightmare—it’s a real danger in parts of the United States.

Enough is enough. The U.S. Department of the Interior has signaled that certain agencies may resume the use of M-44 sodium cyanide devices—even after federal officials halted their use on vast public lands due to serious safety concerns.

In 2023, the Bureau of Land Management took a major step forward by ending the use of these “cyanide bombs” across more than 390,000 square miles of public land, citing the danger they pose to people, pets, and wildlife. But that progress is now at risk.

These devices don’t just target predators. When triggered, they eject sodium cyanide powder that forms a deadly gas, killing animals that take the bait—and sometimes anything nearby. Dogs, non-target wildlife, and even people have been exposed. These devices are inherently indiscriminate.

In one widely reported case, a 14-year-old boy accidentally triggered an M-44, watching in horror as his dog died in front of him while he himself was exposed to cyanide. He survived—but only barely.

While some federal agencies have already prohibited these devices, others—including the U.S. Forest Service—and a number of states continue to allow their use, creating a dangerous patchwork of protections that leaves communities and wildlife at risk.

That’s why Congress must act.

As Congress drafts the FY27 Agriculture Appropriations bill, we urge them to:

1: Maintain and strengthen language prohibiting the purchase, deployment, and training of M-44 sodium cyanide devices and Compound 1080, with limited exceptions only for removing existing devices.

2: Require full transparency from Wildlife Services, including public reporting on where, why, and how animals are killed—and what non-lethal methods were attempted first.

3: Hold the agency accountable by making environmental reviews, kill data, and operational records easily accessible to the public.

Taxpayers deserve to know what’s being done in their name. Communities deserve to feel safe on public lands. And wildlife deserve better than a painful, indiscriminate death by cyanide.

There are proven, humane alternatives to predator control. What’s missing is the political will to prioritize them.

Congress has already begun cracking down on these dangerous devices. Now it’s time to finish the job.

Tell Congress: Ban cyanide bombs. Shine a light on Wildlife Services. Protect our communities, our pets, and our wildlife.
_______

Sources:

https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/us-agency-ends-use-of-cyanide-bomb-to-kill-coyotes-and-other-predators-citing-safety-concerns

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/cyanide-bombs/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/26/cyanide-bombs-wildfire-services-idaho