The annual meeting for Prairie Dog Pals will be held on 5 February 2017 at 1:00 PM at the James Joseph Dwyer Memorial Police Substation at 12,700 Montgomery Blvd. NE. If you have any items you’d like to bring up, email prairiedogpals@comcast.net and they will be added to the agenda. See you there!
For Volunteers
Prairie Dog Volunteers need to have all of these documents in hand to do their work. Just click on each link to download, save, and print each of them!
2014 Board and General Meetings
The board and general membership meetings were conducted on February 2, 2014. The meeting was well attended and the group discussed issues like site stewardship, needing new volunteers, fundraising, and other pressing issues.
To read the minutes, click on Minutes.
Weems 2013
Weems 2013 was a great success! The volunteers talked to many people on the merits of prairie dogs and we made over $1100 in sales and donations. Many thanks to all those who volunteered or who helped the prairie dogs by donating or purchasing merchandise. Remember Christmas is coming and time to stock up on prairie dog swag! Woo Hoo
TrapFree New Mexico needs YOUR help!
Dear Supporters of a TrapFree New Mexico,
You may have seen this article on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal yesterday http://www.abqjournal.com/299377/news/dog-caught-in-trap-for-coyotes.html about a hiker’s dog being caught in a leghold trap on a popular trail in the Sandia foothills. It is true, fur trapping season started on November 1 and won’t end until March 15. That is 4.5 months that these devices will be out on our public lands placing all of us and our canine companions at risk. Coyotes can be trapped all year long.
I’m writing to ask you not to just get angry but to take action! Please send a letter to the editor of the ABQ Journal and voice your protest that these traps can be set on public land. Many people are not even aware that leaving a steel jawed leghold trap un-marked and unattended where others can be harmed is even legal. If the paper gets a large number of letters, it is more likely they will print some keeping the issue at the forefront and hopefully letting other people know.
It should be short, 100-150 words is best, and can be sent online here: http://www.abqjournal.com/letters/new
Please use your own words, but here are some talking points:
· The presence of traps can have a chilling effect on the ability of outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy their favorite places.
· A trapped dog can become dangerous so people trying to help can be bitten. Traps can be difficult to remove even if you know how they work.
· When dogs are caught, we can see the cruelty, pain and suffering that traps inflict which wildlife must also endure only to be brutally killed when the trapper arrives. Killing a helplessly trapped animal is usually done by gunshot, strangulation, or bludgeoning. It is violence at close range.
· Resident trappers only pay $20 to trap an unlimited number of bobcats, foxes, and other animals that have fur which they then sell for profit. They are privatizing the public’s wildlife for a pittance.
· Traps cannot choose on whose leg they slam shut. Besides our dogs, victims can include birds, squirrels, deer and other protected species and even endangered ones; wildlife that would be illegal to otherwise harm.
You can also visit http://trapfreenm.org/ for more
Thank you for taking action and speaking out.
Sincerely,
Mary Katherine Ray
For TrapFree NM
PS. Please let us know if you are a trap victim. We are collecting your stories here: http://trapfreenm.org/learn-more-stories-comments.php
We invite you to also join our community on Facebook with a ‘like’. https://www.facebook.com/trapfreenm
Weems Teams Ready for Action
Jim, Becky and C Rex set up for the Weem’s International Artfest today! The fun begins tomorrow at 10 AM! You can see from the picture below that all is ready to go. Please consider visiting the artfest, and dropping by Prairie Dog Pals booth to pick up some holiday gifts and help the prairie dogs!
Refuge Day on October 5
Come join us for Refuge Day at the Sevilleta on October 5! We’re looking for volunteers to help with tabling. It will be a fun day!
Help Us Help Them
Education
Dr. Con Slobodchikoff details his research on the language of prairie dogs to over 150 people at Prairie Dog Pal-ooza.
Prairie Dog Pals has three programs, Rescue, which includes rescuing prairie dogs and relocating them to safer locations, Stewardship, which includes advocating for and protecting their environment and the prairie dogs themselves, and Education.
Providing information to the public about prairie dogs and their plight is one of Prairie Dog Pals’ three programs. Our outreach volunteers are always ready to meet with any group to inform them about prairie dogs and/or answer questions.
Lynn Diehl addresses a packed house at an Oasis presentation featuring prairie dogs.
Perhaps our best outreach opportunities are those not pictured. These occur when our volunteers interface with interested, sympathetic, and sometimes-hostile passers by. It is very difficult to dispel rumor, fear, legend and years of accumulated bias; however, an open mind is a fertile place and our volunteers do their best to dispel fantasy with fact and reason.