An animal welfare group is now in federal court challenging a much-debated Fish and Wildlife Service plan to kill an estimated 15,000 barred owls annually in order to help the threatened northern spotted owl.
The lawsuit filed Oct. 31 by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy contends the plan that envisions the elimination of nearly a half-million barred owls over the next 30 years in Washington state, Oregon and California is both cruel and futile.
“This inhumane, unworkable barred owl kill-plan is the largest-ever scheme to slaughter raptors in any nation by a country mile,” Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, said in a statement.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington state targets what FWS calls the “barred owl management strategy.” The lawsuit denounces the strategy as “unfunded, uncoordinated, poorly designed, and doomed to fail,” while FWS defends it as the best option available.
