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USDA Trapper Under Fire for Photos of Trapped Coyotes

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December 18, 2012

USDA Trapper Under Fire for Photos of Trapped Coyotes

By Chad Love

A government trapper in the USDA's wildlife services division is under fire after taking photographs that appear to show his dogs tormenting coyotes caught in leghold traps, and then posting the photographs on Facebook and Twitter. The photos, which inevitably went viral, have now sparked an investigation.

From this story in the Missoula Independent
In early November, Jamie Olson, a federal Wildlife Services employee in Wyoming, told the Indy he made a “big-ass mistake” in posting several photos of live coyotes caught in leg-hold traps on Facebook and Twitter. Those photos, some of which appeared to show Olson’s dogs tormenting the trapped coyotes, outraged animal-rights groups and triggered an investigation...

The uproar has reached Washington, D.C., with U.S. Reps. John Campbell, R-Calif., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., asking Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for a broader investigation—“a thorough audit of Wildlife Services, especially its lethal predator control program, by the USDA Office of Inspector General regarding the culture within Wildlife Services.”

According to the story, although Olson says he took the pictures on his own time, the lawmakers say it appears that he committed acts of animal cruelty that violate federal directives and state law. They also say they're concerned the photos reflect problems within the agency, especially at a time when the government trapping program is already under heavy scrutiny and criticism.

If you wish, the photos can be viewed here.

Thoughts? Reaction?

 

Comments (14)

Top Rated
All Comments
from Dcast wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

Just a bunch of anti-hunters with their panties in a wad, who gives a flying phuk! It looks as if PETA sent out some talking points to their members to comment on this subject. Heres a few of my favorites:

Sick MONSTER!!!!! Let's get him in a trap and let a grizzly rip him to shreds. Then broadcast it on national news so that all of his sick friends can see what will happen to them if they torture coyotes or any other animal. We are becoming a hideous and disgusting society.

Bettert NOT show your pathetic A$$ in Michigan either, Olson. I hope someone evens the score and YOU get exactly the same cruel treatment you inflicted on those defenseless creatures you pretended to protect you sick F@(K!!!!!!!!

This kind of masturbatory blood lust is unfortunately common. Look around the internet and you will find reams of photos on various forums of the slaughter of all sorts of wildlife (and it's mostly legal) - thousands of bobcats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, beaver, you name it. Even more disgusting is the bizarre thrill these guys get from watching the animals suffer - like the comment I found on his website (not his comment, however) - "Nothing prettier than a coyote bouncing in a trap".

+5 Good Comment? | | Report
from jdwood wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

I would put this in the dumb and stupid file as far as posting the photos go. I'm not going to base an opinion on the few photos I saw about what actually occured, but this goes with the wolf capture where the man took photos before finishing the wolf off. I have nothing against trapping and think its a very useful tool. But, just like all the other forms of hunting out there, the way we present it to one another should be thought about as there are plenty people against hunting that have a field day when they get ahold of photos like this.

+5 Good Comment? | | Report
from Proverbs wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

He needs to resign to maintain some integrity for his co-workers. Not only does Olson show incredibly bad judgement for posting the photos, but he apparently lies, too. In one place he said he only posted the photos so his dad could see the dog he is currently training. Then he says the photos are 5 years old. Which is it, Olson?

Horrible judgement. Would not have him working for me.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from DSMbirddog wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

It depends on what he is really doing in those photos. If he is having his dogs fight a trapped coyote and kill it then I say he is wrong to be doing that. You've got the animal trapped so finish it off quickly. And, yes, he is still an idiot for posting these photos.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from g.i.John wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

i agree with DSM. if he is have them fight he is an idiot. if he is training his dogs then i could see why he would do that. but make the training sessions short. being able to say your an ethical hunter means you don't want the animal to suffer unnecessarily.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from Ontario Honker ... wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

Just another dumb-ass government employee. Like this guy expects us to believe he runs around checking his government traps on his own time? Olson, you may be a moron but the rest of us aren't! I worked for scores of these numbskulls during my career with the US govt. I could tell you stories that would leave you scratching your head till it was bald as a cue ball. The PETA people can post what they want about this guy. They will save me the trouble of giving the useless moron a piece of my mind. I don't see what all the flap is about. He's just another brain-dead idiot and the world is full of them. Fire him, make an apology, and move on. Why waste the money on a big flaming investigation? He's an idiot, he's gone, hopefully won't happen again ... what's left to investigate?

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

Poor judgement, for sure.

Dcast has posted a few but the comments after the article are worth the read. Gives a little insight into the brain of an anti.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from aferraro wrote 25 weeks 3 days ago

A bi-partisan committee just found that officials at the State Department were grossly incompetent in allowing our ambassador to Libya and his security team to be killed. They also recommended no disciplinary action. If this guy gets fired it shows you just how screwed up our country has become.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from Pathfinder1 wrote 25 weeks 3 days ago

Hi...

What an ignorant doofus.

And he only wanted his father to see them...??

I wonder who his father sent them to?

I hope the Agency has the guts to fire him...!!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from jmrcexplorer wrote 25 weeks 3 days ago

This is the sort of actions that create anti-hunters.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from Allan wrote 25 weeks 13 hours ago

This guy should know that smart phones and utube are a trappers worst nightmare right next to bob barker and Bridget Bardeau

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from first deer 12 wrote 13 weeks 3 days ago

Kill the animal quickly, and then take pictures. Don't give trappers a bad name.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from woodsdog wrote 9 weeks 1 day ago

Ok so have any of these hyper emotional, uneducated, kardashian like people ever had dogs? Have they ever watched them interact with other dogs they have not met before? I see absolutely nothing wrong with the photos whatsoever. Why? Because I am a trapper and a dog owner and lover and when K-9's get together, they sometimes act aggressivley toward each other. It is nature. Too many people have been taught that animals are human like.... they are not (anthropamorphism). They need to be controlled properly and humanely. Incidentally, the excise fees paid by sportsman since 1937 via the Pittman-Robertson Act are the funds used by the Federal and State Conservation departments to manage and conserve (not preserve), conserve the natural wildlife resource. Without sportsman and their funds, including trappers and trapping, the large native wildlife populations we all enjoy today and have to manage is a direct result of those efforts. Too many people react based on emotion rather than rational thought. The next time these people are walking their little ankle biters down the street and it comes upon an other dog, I hope they see how they react. It will not always be tail wagging fun. These people need to get out of the high-rises and concrete and get a clue!

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from 2Poppa wrote 9 weeks 14 hours ago

It doesn't personally offend me, even though Mr. Olson lacks good judgment, but I can see how it might offend and fuel the politically correct and the anti's.

What really offends me is how can people be so annoyed and resentful at pictures of a coyote, one of the smartest and successful predators.
But, not be offended at the pictures of Chris Stevens, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, and was paraded through the streets of Benghazi while being sodomized, half-nude and burned by fictitious protesters, .
I didn't hear the people demanding the resignation of the leaders of this government directly and indirectly involved.

Where are the voices that demand a verdict for Mr. Stevens? That is what is offensive to me.

0 Good Comment? | | Report

Post a Comment

from Dcast wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

Just a bunch of anti-hunters with their panties in a wad, who gives a flying phuk! It looks as if PETA sent out some talking points to their members to comment on this subject. Heres a few of my favorites:

Sick MONSTER!!!!! Let's get him in a trap and let a grizzly rip him to shreds. Then broadcast it on national news so that all of his sick friends can see what will happen to them if they torture coyotes or any other animal. We are becoming a hideous and disgusting society.

Bettert NOT show your pathetic A$$ in Michigan either, Olson. I hope someone evens the score and YOU get exactly the same cruel treatment you inflicted on those defenseless creatures you pretended to protect you sick F@(K!!!!!!!!

This kind of masturbatory blood lust is unfortunately common. Look around the internet and you will find reams of photos on various forums of the slaughter of all sorts of wildlife (and it's mostly legal) - thousands of bobcats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, beaver, you name it. Even more disgusting is the bizarre thrill these guys get from watching the animals suffer - like the comment I found on his website (not his comment, however) - "Nothing prettier than a coyote bouncing in a trap".

+5 Good Comment? | | Report
from jdwood wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

I would put this in the dumb and stupid file as far as posting the photos go. I'm not going to base an opinion on the few photos I saw about what actually occured, but this goes with the wolf capture where the man took photos before finishing the wolf off. I have nothing against trapping and think its a very useful tool. But, just like all the other forms of hunting out there, the way we present it to one another should be thought about as there are plenty people against hunting that have a field day when they get ahold of photos like this.

+5 Good Comment? | | Report
from DSMbirddog wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

It depends on what he is really doing in those photos. If he is having his dogs fight a trapped coyote and kill it then I say he is wrong to be doing that. You've got the animal trapped so finish it off quickly. And, yes, he is still an idiot for posting these photos.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from aferraro wrote 25 weeks 3 days ago

A bi-partisan committee just found that officials at the State Department were grossly incompetent in allowing our ambassador to Libya and his security team to be killed. They also recommended no disciplinary action. If this guy gets fired it shows you just how screwed up our country has become.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from jmrcexplorer wrote 25 weeks 3 days ago

This is the sort of actions that create anti-hunters.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from Allan wrote 25 weeks 13 hours ago

This guy should know that smart phones and utube are a trappers worst nightmare right next to bob barker and Bridget Bardeau

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

Poor judgement, for sure.

Dcast has posted a few but the comments after the article are worth the read. Gives a little insight into the brain of an anti.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Pathfinder1 wrote 25 weeks 3 days ago

Hi...

What an ignorant doofus.

And he only wanted his father to see them...??

I wonder who his father sent them to?

I hope the Agency has the guts to fire him...!!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from first deer 12 wrote 13 weeks 3 days ago

Kill the animal quickly, and then take pictures. Don't give trappers a bad name.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Proverbs wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

He needs to resign to maintain some integrity for his co-workers. Not only does Olson show incredibly bad judgement for posting the photos, but he apparently lies, too. In one place he said he only posted the photos so his dad could see the dog he is currently training. Then he says the photos are 5 years old. Which is it, Olson?

Horrible judgement. Would not have him working for me.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from g.i.John wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

i agree with DSM. if he is have them fight he is an idiot. if he is training his dogs then i could see why he would do that. but make the training sessions short. being able to say your an ethical hunter means you don't want the animal to suffer unnecessarily.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from Ontario Honker ... wrote 25 weeks 4 days ago

Just another dumb-ass government employee. Like this guy expects us to believe he runs around checking his government traps on his own time? Olson, you may be a moron but the rest of us aren't! I worked for scores of these numbskulls during my career with the US govt. I could tell you stories that would leave you scratching your head till it was bald as a cue ball. The PETA people can post what they want about this guy. They will save me the trouble of giving the useless moron a piece of my mind. I don't see what all the flap is about. He's just another brain-dead idiot and the world is full of them. Fire him, make an apology, and move on. Why waste the money on a big flaming investigation? He's an idiot, he's gone, hopefully won't happen again ... what's left to investigate?

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from woodsdog wrote 9 weeks 1 day ago

Ok so have any of these hyper emotional, uneducated, kardashian like people ever had dogs? Have they ever watched them interact with other dogs they have not met before? I see absolutely nothing wrong with the photos whatsoever. Why? Because I am a trapper and a dog owner and lover and when K-9's get together, they sometimes act aggressivley toward each other. It is nature. Too many people have been taught that animals are human like.... they are not (anthropamorphism). They need to be controlled properly and humanely. Incidentally, the excise fees paid by sportsman since 1937 via the Pittman-Robertson Act are the funds used by the Federal and State Conservation departments to manage and conserve (not preserve), conserve the natural wildlife resource. Without sportsman and their funds, including trappers and trapping, the large native wildlife populations we all enjoy today and have to manage is a direct result of those efforts. Too many people react based on emotion rather than rational thought. The next time these people are walking their little ankle biters down the street and it comes upon an other dog, I hope they see how they react. It will not always be tail wagging fun. These people need to get out of the high-rises and concrete and get a clue!

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from 2Poppa wrote 9 weeks 14 hours ago

It doesn't personally offend me, even though Mr. Olson lacks good judgment, but I can see how it might offend and fuel the politically correct and the anti's.

What really offends me is how can people be so annoyed and resentful at pictures of a coyote, one of the smartest and successful predators.
But, not be offended at the pictures of Chris Stevens, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, and was paraded through the streets of Benghazi while being sodomized, half-nude and burned by fictitious protesters, .
I didn't hear the people demanding the resignation of the leaders of this government directly and indirectly involved.

Where are the voices that demand a verdict for Mr. Stevens? That is what is offensive to me.

0 Good Comment? | | Report

Post a Comment

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