Dear
Guardian,
Dangerous
and indiscriminate traps set by private individuals and federal employees
litter our public lands, threatening imperiled wildlife and our companion
animals along with targeted species.
River
otters, lynx, eagles, fox, porcupine, dogs and countless other beautiful animals
are ensnared in traps meant for other animals.
Recently,
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced a bill that will
save thousands of animals from painful deaths. The “Limiting Inhumane Federal
Trapping (LIFT) for Public Safety Act” (H.R. 5954) will ban almost all trapping on our public lands, including prohibiting
federal employees from using inhumane and indiscriminate “body-gripping” traps.
Join us in asking
our elected representatives to co-sponsor this important bill.
These
traps—including
steel-jaw traps, leghold traps, snares and body-crushing traps—cause
immense suffering. Restraining traps cause injuries, exposure, dehydration and
mental stress, and even animals released alive may later die from their
injuries. Kill-type traps often misfire and cause lingering, inhumane deaths.
This
bill is a huge step forward in reining in the rogue federal wildlife-killing
program, Wildlife Services, because it would prohibit the program—as well as the
Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service—from using
or recommending the use of cruel traps.
The
bill also bans the use of traps on public lands managed by the Departments of
the Interior and Agriculture including our national forests, national wildlife
refuges and lands managed by the BLM.
It
is long past time to ban the barbaric and indiscriminate practice of trapping.
This bill is an important step toward making our public lands trap-free.
Write your Senators
and Representative today and voice your support for banning cruel traps.
For the wild,
Bethany Cotton
Wildlife Program Director
WildEarth Guardians
bcotton@wildearthguardians.org
photo credit: adobestock