Maine hearing draws hours of testimony on bill to ban coyote killing contests

A public hearing before the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife drew hours of testimony for and against LD 12 93, a bill that would prohibit organized ‘‘coyote killing contests’’ in Maine.

Senator Penny Beebe-Center, who introduced the bill, told the committee the proposal targets two organized events in northern Maine and said the contests undermine hunting ethics. "This bill is just about banning the most egregious form of killing that is unusually cruel, pointless, and very unethical," she said.

The measure’s backers — animal-welfare groups, conservation scientists and a number of Maine residents — argued the contests are not grounded in sound wildlife management, alarm the public and risk harming federally protected wolves that may be mistaken for coyotes. Katie Hansberry, Maine state director for Humane World for Animals,…