In a January 16 filing with the Colorado Secretary of State, the issue committee backing the measure (Cats Aren’t Trophies) reports raising just over $218,000 in the last quarter of 2023, with another roughly $60,000 in ‘non-monetary’ contributions. Of that, $100,000 comes from the Washington, DC-based Animal Wellness Action, with another $2087 in-kind donation of “personnel services” provided. The group lists a Colorado state director on its website as the campaign manager for the effort, currently numbered as Initiative #91.
Another $100,000 comes from the Center for a Humane Economy, Inc., which boasts a Bethesda, Maryland post office box as an address, and which gave another $58,525 as an in-kind donation of “personnel and consulting” services. The group lists Animal Wellness Action as a “partner” organization. …
While the ballot measure purports to ban only “trophy hunting,” the proposed statute broadly defines such hunting as: “Intentionally killing, wounding, or entrapping a mountain lion, bobcat, or lynx,” which in practice means a ban on hunting the animals entirely, according to Dan Gates from Coloradans for Responsible wildlife Management, a pro-hunting group that opposes the measure.
“They say they want to curtail trophy hunting, but the definition in the petition says ‘intentional killing,’” Gates previously said. “All of hunting is intentional killing. If they are going to classify that hunting as intentional killing, how can they not be for getting rid of all forms of hunting?”
— Mike Krause in Out-of-state money dominates fundraising for anti-hunting ballot measure