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Petition Tag - mute swans
1. Save Delaware's Mute Swans! 
There are currently only an estimated 40 mute swans residing in Delaware, hardly enough to provide the beauty and grace Delaware’s citizens want to see and protect. Yet Fish and Wildlife officials with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) used shotguns to kill two just a few weeks ago, with no public notice or opportunity for discussion with caring citizens.
Targeted swans were euthanized by being forced into an isolated area where they could be “safely” shot. Citizens who were anxious to protect the swans and eliminate any problems were not notified or asked to help. This can hardly be considered humane or good public policy. Residents of Delaware have already offered to help oiling swan eggs (a method to prevent eggs from hatching) and to collar and band any pet swans, yet the government has remained callous and unresponsive. This has resulted in justifiable public outrage and inflamed public opinion.
In response to this public outrage, The DNREC has recently declared a “temporary” moratorium on the killing of mute swans in the state of Delaware. The moratorium should be made permanent to prevent the unnecessary and cruel killing of the remaining 40 swans in Delaware. Meanwhile concerned citizens and Fish and Wildlife officials should work together to develop guidelines that guarantee the survival of a naturalized vital population of swans and require the use of humane non-lethal controls to resolve legitimate conflicts and mandate that lethal control may be exercised only as a last resort, only on a case by case basis and only after involvement with concerned citizens. If the moratorium can be made permanent, perhaps the unnecessary and cruel killing of the remaining 40 swans in Delaware can be prevented and some growth of the population can make up for those animals that have been callously and unnecessarily killed.
The citizens of Delaware have spoken out against the killing of their state's swans and are desperate for a solution.
2. Save the Chesapeake Bay's Mute Swans!
Maryland's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been needlessly killing thousands of mute swans in the Chesapeake Bay. The DNR claims that the swans are damaging the ecosystem by consuming aquatic plants. However there is absolutely no evidence to back this claim up.
Because there is no concrete evidence to prove whether or not swans are native to the U.S., they are simply being used as a scapegoat for ecosystem damage caused by many other factors including pollution and coastal land development. Not to mention, the swans are being killed in random and cruel manners. Only about 500 swans remain in the Chesapeake Bay, which is a small fraction of the over 3,500 swans that resided there just 6 years ago.
Negotiations with Maryland's DNR has failed to bring a change of fate for the Chesapeake Bay's mute swans. But Maryland's governor, Martin O'Malley, has the authority to call off the brutal killings. The few swans left in the Chesapeake are not damaging the environment and should therefore be left to live.
Nigel Barker, world-renowned photographer and America’s Next Top Model judge, and musician Slash, famous guitarist with Guns N’ Roses, have both signed the petition asking the governor to end this slaughter. You, too, must appeal to Governor O'Malley today and speak up for the swans!
