The Baltimore Sun On Trapping!

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The Baltimore Sun ran the following editorial in support of SB 543, the bill to

ban leghold traps in Maryland.

 

Caught in a painful trap

Animals: Steel-jaw leghold traps are inhumane and dangerous to pets and

untargeted species.

 

Originally published March 14, 2001

 

TRAPPING WILD animals for fur is not a popular pastime in Maryland, but it could

be a more humane one. Steel leghold traps are a particularly unpleasant device,

inflicting violent pain on impact and compounded violence as desperate animals

struggle to free themselves. Sometimes they gnaw off their own limbs to escape

or ease the agony. These steel-jaw traps are inefficient and nonselective. They

can, and do, injure and kill animals that trappers are not hunting. That

includes pet dogs and cats, protected songbirds and waterfowl, deer and even

livestock. Four suburban counties already ban these furbearer traps as public

hazards, allowing their use only if completely under water. More than a

half-dozen states have banned or severely limited use of these inhumane traps.

So has the European Union and 90 other countries. Legislation to ban steel

leghold traps -- not trapping and not all commonly used traps -- is before the

General Assembly. Opponents argue that the legholds are more effective and no

more cruel th

an other traps. But their chief objection seems to be the cost of buying these

alternatives. One compromise suggested would require that leghold traps be

padded; such devices are commonly available. That might soothe public fears, but

it does not make leghold traps more humane. To bolster enforcement, Maryland

also should require a trapping license. Unlike other states, Maryland only

requires a general hunting license, with no trapping education. That's a poor

basis on which to enforce existing trapping regulations and manage the wildlife

resource. Animal suffering may be a harsh reality of nature. But indifference to

the torment of animals trapped for recreation or profit is something human

society must not sanction.

2001, The Baltimore Sun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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