This commentary is by Brenna Galdenzi, the president of Protect Our Wildlife.
Most people are likely aware of Vermont’s recreational trapping season that runs annually from the fourth Saturday in October through March 31, but few probably know that year-round trapping is allowed under a statute of Vermont’s wildlife law, Title 10, Section 4828, regarding “wild animals doing damage.”
There are very few protections for beavers, foxes, bobcats and other animals labeled a nuisance. This statute is so broadly written that it too often results in the unnecessary killing of animals, frequently with little to no oversight or accountability.
Under current statute, landowners and municipalities may kill furbearer species they suspect of causing problems, without clear evidence of damage, without prior verification and without mandatory reporting. In practice, this means a wild animal may be killed simply for being present. At the heart of the issue is a fundamental problem: The law’s vague language effectively creates what amounts to an open season on any animals defined as furbearers.
We often hear of situations where chickens are allowed to free-range day and night without protection, and then when a wild animal appears, it pays the ultimate price. If people are not willing to take proactive steps to protect their livestock — such as using livestock guardian animals or securing coops with proper fencing and electrification — then wildlife should not be treated as disposable for merely trying to score a meal.
The consequences of the current system are not theoretical. There are documented cases every year that raise serious concerns about both oversight and animal welfare. In one instance, a German shepherd was injured in a body-crushing kill trap set for nuisance beavers by a trapper near a public trail in Castleton. There were no warning signs posted, placing the public and pets at risk. Another woman’s dog was killed in a trap in Underhill.
In addition, unlike licensed trappers operating during regulated seasons, landowners are not required to hold a trapping license when acting under the exemption for defense of property. This means they may use leghold and body-crushing kill traps without any training.
In one reported case, a red fox was seen dragging a leghold trap outside the legal trapping season, which may have been the result of someone unfamiliar with trapping who did not properly stake the trap. In a similar example, a good Samaritan found a raccoon stumbling around with a kill trap crushing its head outside of the legal trapping season. The woman tried to help the animal, but its injuries were too severe for it to be saved. These examples raise serious animal welfare concerns and public safety risks.
While legislation we helped pass in 2018 requires those trapping nuisance wildlife for compensation — such as wildlife control operators — to possess a trapping license and follow best practices, significant gaps remain. For example, these trappers are still allowed to kill wildlife in exceptionally inhumane ways, such as drowning.
Protect Our Wildlife attempted to work with Vermont Fish and Wildlife to improve this law. Despite apparent interest from some within the department, no action has been taken to date. Our proposed reforms were not radical; they were modeled on existing policies in nearby states such as Maine and New Hampshire, where an animal must be “in the act of doing actual damage,” according to their statutes, before it may be killed under similar circumstances. Adopting standards like these would bring Vermont in line with a more cautious, evidence-based approach versus a de facto open season.
Our recommendations included straightforward safeguards: requiring reporting of all furbearers killed under the statute within 48 hours, including the nature of the conflict; mandating daily trap checks to reduce prolonged suffering; and requiring a trapping license for anyone using leghold or body-crushing kill traps to ensure basic competency and public safety.
Finally, there is the issue of timing. In spring, many wild animals raise their young. When adults are killed during this period, the result is often the slow starvation of dependent offspring left behind in dens. While a lucky few orphaned animals are discovered and brought to licensed wildlife rehabilitators, many others are never found and do not survive.
These are not isolated concerns — they are predictable outcomes of a system with minimal oversight and broad discretion. Vermont Fish and Wildlife can balance landowner needs with responsible wildlife stewardship by adopting our recommendations. Basic standards of accountability and animal welfare must be put in place. Maine and New Hampshire have already demonstrated workable models. Vermont, unfortunately, continues to lag when it comes to modern, humane wildlife policy.
