Reports surfaced in late October that a trapper employed by the USDA ’s Wildlife Services (WS) program in Wyoming had posted graphic images and commentary online indicating he allowed his dogs to menace, maul, and disembowel coyotes, raccoons, and other wild animals caught in his steel-jaw leghold traps. In so doing, he inflicted even greater fear and pain on already-suffering animals. AWI and Project Coyote called upon the Wyoming state director of WS to address this sadistic behavior, and started an online petition to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, demanding termination of the trapper’s employment and an investigation not only into this incident but also other reports of intentional cruelty by USDA employees.