Animal rights activists continue to make inaccurate claims in their posts decrying trapping. Some facts to ponder:
- There have been no documented instances of a person being caught in a legally set trap.
- Best management practices currently being proposed as regulation provide for a minimum setback from trails and roads at 50 feet.
- Coyotes are relative newcomers to Vermont. Historically they are not responsible for keeping deer numbers in check.
- Trapping is not a recreational activity but a small business activity. There is an active market for tanned furs and taxidermy pelts. Many trappers are also busy removing nuisance wild animals.
- The market for raw fur is cyclical, as are other commodities. Current prices are in part depressed due to the mass pelting of ranched furs during the pandemic. (Yes, there are lots of furbearing animals raised on fur farms for their pelts.) While the current market for some furs may be low, as recently as three years ago coyote pelts were topping $100.
- Furbearing animals in Vermont are abundant. Furbearing animals are not in danger of extinction due to trapping.
- More animals are killed on the road than are trapped in Vermont. Trapped animals are used for both fur and food. Roadkill is just wasted.
- Clothing made from fur is a green product, reducing the use of petroleum-based synthetics and is much warmer.
- Trapping is a highly regulated activity. Trappers are required to take a class taught by certified trappers before they receive a license. Licensed trappers are responsible trappers. Many of the incidents, including the unfortunate killing of a dog in Corinth, were by unlicensed individuals. Banning trapping will only increase unregulated trapping by unlicensed individuals.
Jerry D’Amico
Roxbury
