Sign the Line for Felines: Arizona Ballot Initiative Could End Trophy Hunting of Wild Cats

AWI is endorsing an effort by Arizonans for Wildlife (AFW), a coalition of nonprofit organizations and Arizona state legislators, to collect signatures for a ballot initiative that would outlaw trophy hunting and trapping of bobcats, mountain lions, lynx, jaguars, and ocelots in the state. The measure would not restrict the killing of wild cats who threaten personal safety, property, or livestock. To get the initiative on the November 2018 ballot, AFW must collect at least 150,642 signatures.

“If passed, this initiative will spare thousands of Arizona’s wild cats from a cruel death at the hands of trophy hunters and trappers, who chase down these animals with packs of hounds, and trap them with barbaric steel-jaw, leghold traps and snares,” says Kellye Pinkleton, AFW’s campaign director. “It will also spare the dependent kittens, who are often left behind as a result of trophy hunting, from an agonizing death by starvation, predation or exposure.”