On Oct. 27, the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife released a press release titled “Regulated Trapping Seasons Open October 28.”
Vermont Fish & Wildlife uses the word “regulated” in the title and in virtually every sentence. But, other than the fact that there is a season for trapping, there is virtually no regulation of trapping.
Vermont F&W does not mention that there is no limit to the number of traps that a trapper can set out. And there is no limit to the number of animals they can kill.
Last year, trappers used leghold and body-crushing traps to kill approximately 9,000 bobcats, beavers, red foxes, gray foxes and other furbearing animals. All this killing is done by approximately 350 active trappers primarily for the “fun” of it. There is essentially no market for fur in the United States anymore. It is done primarily for recreation.
One of the department’s recent trapping promotion videos even refers to it as “great outdoor fun” (at 1:30) and, believe it or not, they tell kids leghold traps don’t hurt animals (at 8:48). You can watch it here: Trapping in Today’s World.
There have been no regulations on how these animals are killed. Many trappers use what they call a “whacking stick” to bludgeon the animals to death. Great fun?
Vermont F&W uses the word “regulated” as much as possible on the advice of its highly paid public relations firm, Responsive Management from Harrisonburg, Va. Responsive Management advises the department that public approval for trapping goes way down when they don’t put the word “regulated” in front of the word “trapping.”
It is equally misleading to say that it is rare for pets to be caught in traps. Vermont F&W does not really track the number of pets injured or killed by traps, never mind the number of endangered species or non-target species trapped or killed. Most are never even reported.
The Vermont Legislature is finally considering legislation to honestly and truly regulate this practice. Hopefully it will take meaningful steps to do so.
Jane Hoffman
Greensboro
