City's Decision To Kill Prairie Dog Colonies Angers Residents

FORT COLLINS -- Some Fort Collins residents are angry at the city's decision to exterminate three prairie dog populations.

The city of Fort Collins plans to kill prairie dogs in three areas because the animals are destroying grass and other vegetation.

Despite protests from a small group, the city will fumigate the colonies, which have grown dramatically in the past two years.

"We get such a high density of prairie dogs that it's not really a sustainable population," said John Stokes of the City of Fort Collins.

City officials said no one was willing to take the prairie dogs and that the relocation process was expensive.

Prairie dog advocate Laura Sebastian said the plan violates the city's prairie dog management plan.

The city fumigated one area and said it killed about 38 to 54 prairie dogs. A local activist group, Keep Fort Collins Wild, said the city killed more like 150 prairie dogs and they said that is wrong.

"This should not be happening and it's an outrage. It's a heinous crime, really," said Deanna Dacus of Keep Fort Collins Wild.

Dacus and fellow Keep Fort Collins Wild members said the fumigation process disrupts the ecosystem and is cruel.

"It causes pain. It causes suffocation," said Dacus.

The city said fumigation is just one part of its overall management plan

"The city of Fort Collins has done, I think, a superlative job of conserving prairie dog habitats," said Stokes. "It's just that in this urban environment we have to actively manage those populations."

"It makes me feel terrible. I'm ashamed of my city. I'm ashamed of my government," said Dacus. "I am a tax payer and I don't want my money used to kill animals."

Keep Fort Collins Wild said they wish more people would get involved and call City Council people to voice their concerns. But the city said right now they are getting more calls from residents asking the city to get rid of more prairie dogs.