HSUS Bid to Eliminate Trapping in Wildlife Management Passes House; Senate Next Target

FUR COMMISSION USA COMMENTARY, AUGUST 12, 1999
HSUS Bid to Eliminate Trapping in Wildlife Management Passes House; Senate Next Target
ACTION IS URGENTLY NEEDED to derail a further attempt by America’s largest animal rights group to curtail trapping.
On July 14, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to an Interior Appropriations Bill that would ban the commercial and recreational use of leghold traps on the 93 million acres of the National Wildlife Refuge system. The amendment to bill HR2466 was sponsored by Sam Farr (D-CA) at the direction of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
Despite a wave of protest to legislators initiated by wildlife caretakers from a host of groups, the vote count was 269 for, 166 against, with nine abstentions. Alarmingly, 62 members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus voted for the amendment.
“In essence, the amendment seeks to bar the expenditure of funds to administer or promote the use of leg-hold traps or neck snares for commerce or recreation on any unit of the national wildlife refuge system,” explains Carol Wynne of the Fur Information Council of America.
“The amendment is cleverly drafted in that it does not preclude trapping for conservation reasons and predator control. This has confused some Members who are unaware that commercial and recreational trappers are the technicians used by the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that species are conserved and populations are controlled. Many Members of Congress are unaware that the HSUS is a major animal rights organization that does not run a single animal shelter.”
In the Senate, meanwhile, Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) has pledged to sponsor the amendment of Senate bill S1292 after the summer recess. If it fails to pass, the House and Senate will go to conference to iron out their differences, giving an opportunity to change the House language.
Act Now!
Your Senators will be home now for summer recess, so it’s time to buttonhole them! Here’s what you can do, via phone, fax, e-mail and face-to-face:
(1) Respectfully ask your Senators to vote NO on the Torricelli amendment. If you do not know their phone numbers, call the Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
(2) Also ask the Capitol switchboard to connect you to your Senators’ legislative assistants, and discuss the implications of the Torricelli amendment.
(3) Refer your Senators to a report to Congress by the Department of Interior, “Mammal Trapping Within the National Wildlife Refuge System 1992-96″, which deals with the importance of trapping as a wildlife management tool.
(4) Inform your Senators that the Farr/Torricelli amendments are opposed by the International Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (which was the lead organization in the ratification of the agreement between the US, EU, Canada, and Russia to develop international humane trap standards), the Director of US Fish & Wildlife Service (who has written a letter of opposition to key Senators), and the Wildlife Management Institute.
(5) Ensure your Senators are aware that the lead organization promoting these amendments, the HSUS, is an animal rights group opposed to the use of all animals for any purpose.
See also:
Management by Majority. Who should decide if trapping should be banned – the public or wildlife professionals? By Ted Williams, former information officer with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. (June 1999)
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For further information contact Fur Commission USA.
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