Dear John,

We are eagerly but confidently awaiting official word from the state that Cats Aren’t Trophies (CATs) submitted sufficient signatures to qualify our wildlife protection measure for the November ballot and a vote of the people. On July 3, we turned in 188,000 signatures, and about 125,000 signatures are needed to qualify.

If we do qualify, then in just 116 days, we’ll know whether Coloradans will vote to stop cruelty to wildlife, or to allow it to persist.

It’s our greatest hope that the people of Colorado will vote to stop high-tech hounding and the bloody fights that result when a pack of dogs overtakes a solitary and badly outnumbered cat. To stop “guaranteed kills” of “trophy lions” offered up to out-of-state trophy hunters by hunting guides. To stop trapping and then strangling or stomping bobcats to kill them and then peel off their fur.

Even though our volunteers talked to a million Coloradans, many people in the state have no idea that trophy hunters slay up to 600 lions a year in inhumane and unsporting kills. And they have no idea that trophy hunters and commercial trappers kill up to 2,000 bobcats during a single season.

That’s why we need to raise $3 million to get our message out on television, on the radio, and through social media. As we turn into the decisive and final stage of the campaign, we ask you to invest with your labor and your financial support. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stop animal cruelty by passing a statewide ballot initiative. It will set the tone for how all animal protection policy initiatives will be viewed in Colorado in the years to come.

Will you donate today to help our organization fight for bobcats, mountain lions and other animals?

We ask you to dig deeper than for any other cause or campaign because an outcome looms. In less than three months, with your help, we can usher in a new policy to protect native cats in the state from cruelty.

Our New Report Released on Mountain Lions and Their Ecological Role

Today, we also release a new report, “A Scientific Review of Mountain Lion Hunting and Its Effects,” by Jim Keen, D.V.M. and Ph.D. A former USDA researcher and faculty member at the University of Nebraska College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences, Dr. Keen is both a veterinarian and an infectious disease specialist. He’s now serving as the director of veterinary sciences for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.

In his paper, the first in a series that will be released, you’ll learn about peer-reviewed research that gives us insight into the beneficial role of lions in ecosystems and the utter falsehood from the trophy hunting crowd that head-hunting for inedible lions does anything but deliver detrimental effects to Colorado. (You can read the report here.)

Trophy hunters often target large, dominant males. This disrupts the social structure of mountain lion populations. Younger, less experienced males take over the vacated territories. These younger males are more prone to come into conflict with people because they have less knowledge of their territory and prey availability.

California banned trophy hunting of mountain lions in 1972. And when there are cases of individual lions coming into conflict with people, the state has primarily managed those conflicts with non-lethal methods like hazing and relocation, with just 10 problem lions killed in the entire state last year. California’s approach seems to be working, sustaining a healthy mountain lion population and maintaining human-lion conflict rates that are similar or even lower than states that permit trophy hunting.

Mountain lions play a crucial role in the ecosystem by removing sick and weak animals. This can help slow the spread of diseases like the brain-wasting illness of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer, elk, and moose herds.

So let’s be clear: trophy hunting of essentially inedible animals delivers no benefits for Colorado. It enriches a handful of hunting guides who use high-tech hounding strategies for fee-paying trophy hunters. It creates chaos and disrupts the balance of nature, causing downstream adverse effects with deer and elk populations and creating a population of lions more likely to come into conflict with people.

These are messages we’ll deliver to 4.5 million Coloradans. We are counting on you to be our ambassadors. And we are counting on you to support our work to take on tough campaigns against trophy hunting, animal fighting, horse slaughter, and other abuses of animals.

Never will you have an opportunity for your dollars to produce such a tangible and high-impact result.

For all cats and all animals,

Wayne Pacelle President Animal Wellness Action