Maryland Kills Swans With Bolt-Cutters

NOTE: As if eliminating all swans from the State of Maryland isn't bad enough (See PiddleTails 6/11/09 "Hey Maryland! Killing Swans Does Not Make Me Want...")....now comes word that MD is killing them with bolt cutters!!

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Animal rights activists are laying the groundwork to sue Maryland over the manner in which it kills adult mute swans, using a bolt-cutter-like device to snap the birds' necks.

The Humane Society of the United States sent a warning letter to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources last week. And if the DNR doesn't put down the bolt cutters, the group plans to sue, saying the practice violates state animal cruelty laws.

"We've maintained all along that this procedure is just horrifically brutal and cruel. … If it was done in downtown Annapolis, it wouldn't last 10 minutes," said John W. Grandy, a senior vice president of the Humane Society.

Grandy was one of two dissenting voices on a state task force that recommended the state keep killing the invasive mute swans. The population has been culled so far from more than 4,000 birds to about 500.

State wildlife officials maintain that the mute swans are destructive, gobbling up the Chesapeake Bay's underwater grasses and crowding out native birds. Maryland's mute swan population can be traced to a handful of birds that escaped confinement in Talbot County in the 1960s.

Having lost the latest fight over whether the birds should be killed, the Humane Society now is targeting the killing method. The group takes issue with how state workers herd swans, then break their necks with a bolt-cutter-like device. The procedure is called "cervical dislocation."

Jonathan McKnight, the DNR's point person on mute swans, says cervical dislocation is a quick and humane death for the birds. Employees receive special training in the technique.

The Humane Society hired the prestigious Washington, D.C.-based law firm Venable LLP to send a letter to the DNR last week, alleging that the cervical dislocation is not only against veterinary guidelines, but also a violation of Maryland's animal cruelty laws.

"What we're doing sounds very gory, but in fact it's very quick," McKnight said.

Source: hometownannapolis.com