SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - A statewide coyote-hunting contest planned for later this month has caused an uproar in New Mexico, pitting environmentalists against ranchers, as heated words flooded social media networks and thousands signed a petition opposing the hunt as cruel. . The furor prompted the Albuquerque gun store owner who originally sponsored the contest to cancel, but a second gun dealer in the southern New Mexico town of Los Lunas, Gunhawk Firearms, stepped in to take over the event on the weekend of November 17-18.
"Coyotes are a direct threat to the cattle industry," Gunhawk owner Mark Chavez said on Friday, accusing environmentalists of trying to stir up sentiment against the contest to further their "hidden agenda."
