Keep Wildlife Refuges Safe for All Animals
Dear John,
The stated mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is to conserve land and water for the sake of "biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health." These spaces are intended as sanctuaries where wildlife can thrive and all Americans can enjoy our great outdoors. Shockingly, however, nearly half of all refuges allow the use of inhumane and dangerous traps. This is a clear violation of the NWRS's mission and a threat to the safety of wildlife, humans, and pets.
The Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act (H.R. 4716), sponsored by Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), would prohibit the use of body-gripping traps within the NWRS, with limited exceptions for federal personnel to use traps for wildlife management--but only after they have documented a lack of success using nonlethal methods.
Body-gripping traps--such as snares, Conibear traps, and steel-jaw leghold traps--are brutally cruel. They're also indiscriminate, injuring and killing nontarget animals such as endangered and threatened species and even pets. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, nontarget species trapped on refuges include river otters, rabbits, domestic dogs and cats, and birds.