Only a minority of States have banned or restricted the use of steel leghold traps. Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington have restricted the use of leghold traps. New Jersey law is particularly strict and imposes a complete ban on the manufacture, sale, possession, import, transportation, and use of steel jaw slides. Trap monitoring devices studied at the USDA`s National Wildlife Research Center can reduce suffering resulting from prolonged fighting in leghold traps. Trap monitoring devices consist of transmitters designed to notify trappers when a trap has been triggered and the animal has been caught, allowing trappers to go to trapping sites and release or kill animals instead of causing them to suffer for days. Unfortunately, there is no warrant for the use of these monitors, and they are not used in most circumstances. Problems for non-target animals Whether on land or in water, steel leghold traps threaten both target and non-target species. The species most often caught in these brutal traps include raccoons, red foxes, coyotes, muskrats, beavers, mink, bobcats, and gray foxes, but the traps are notoriously non-selective, maiming and killing non-target animals such as birds, threatened and endangered species. and even pets. Finally, there is the “jump trap” – steel leghold traps with a feather under the pan of the trap. As the name suggests, this trap is meant to jump when triggered, trapping animals that are higher on their limbs than other steel leghold traps. The highest catch is to prevent animals from pulling their limbs out of traps or chewing a leg to escape.
Option 3: A person can fall in love with bears under supervision and in the presence of a licensed hunting guide who has successfully completed the Maine Black Bear trapping training course. *These permits are issued by the Augusta office only. Asheville, NC has 12+ bears missing limbs from trap escapes. This could be your city or your next city! These mutilated bears and their fights are shown in this video, as well as traps that sell easily in stores and on Amazon. We hope the video helps convince you to sign this petition and convince others to sign as well. Thanks to your efforts, we can stop this cruel fall and prevent the terrible death and mutilation of wildlife that appears with steel leghold traps and traps. The use of leg/foot irons for bears is illegal in the United States. Bear traps are illegal to use, but not illegal to sell. Many types of steel leghold traps are legal for use on other wildlife such as foxes, wolves, and coyotes. Selling illegal items for bears spreads illegal acts and causes terrible effects on bears and all wildlife, and Amazon should not want to be part of it. These leg/foot traps mutilate wildlife, as seen in the historic tragedy in the Asheville, North Carolina area, where 12+ bear limbs are missing.
These bears with missing limbs may have suffered this fate because of the products sold by Amazon. In addition, our pets and children are at risk because they could easily fall into a trap. With Amazon`s customer reach, anyone can be trapped in your area in a matter of days, harming the things you love. Please sign and share this petition to convince Amazon to urgently stop selling these traps. Due to the inherent cruelty of using steel leghold traps, they have been banned in many countries. Their use is also prohibited or restricted in several U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington. The European Union has banned their use in Europe, as well as the import of fur from countries that use it to capture and kill fur-bearing animals. Steel leghold traps work by hitting an animal`s leg or leg and holding it until a trapper arrives. The devices are banned in more than 100 countries, but not in the United States.
Iraq bans them. This also applies to China, Somalia and Sudan. But in the United States, steel leghold traps are not only legal, they are also the tool of choice for trappers who capture and kill millions of wild animals each year for the global fur market. Some states allow not only steel leghold traps, but also traps with “teeth” on the jaws, which cause puncture wounds and exacerbate the suffering caused. Traps called “double jaws” may have a second jaw under the primary arm or an “auxiliary arm”. Both are intended to prevent spinning. The “stop-loss” trap – originally developed for muskrats known to chew stuck limbs to escape – is a steel cheek trap equipped with an auxiliary arm that, when triggered, moves the victim away from the trapped limb so they can`t chew and escape. Trappers have reported catching muskrats with one, two and even three feet, which are missing from these devices when captured repeatedly.
Trappers do not use these modifications for the benefit of animals; They exist only to prevent escape. Amazon, federal and state employees: Stop selling steel foot traps and leghold traps. Please sign and share this petition. Animals trapped in these traps are frightened and suffer unbearable pain. They are forced to suffer just so that their head can be mounted on a wall and their fur turned into a coat. In reality, the program legitimizes standard leghold traps (and other controversial devices) to ensure that steel leghold traps can continue to be used and that trade with European countries is not disrupted. The program involves paying fur hunters with taxpayers` money to participate in a trial program and catch fur species. BMPs do not protect animals or eliminate the need for regulations that prescribe humane wildlife management practices – for example, unmodified leghold traps made from steel jaws are included in the list of traps that meet BMP criteria.
AFWA provides BMPs for 19 mammal species found in the U.S. – including the federally protected Canadian lynx – and almost all of these guidelines advocate the use of steel leghold traps.