Born Free USA/HSI/the HSUS

Stop cruel trapping today!

Body-gripping and body-crushing traps and snares are inherently cruel. While body-crushing traps may be intended to kill instantly, they do so inconsistently and can subject the animal to unimaginable suffering. Leghold traps can cause excruciating pain when triggered and tear flesh, cut tendons and ligaments and break bones. When animals struggle to free themselves, they may dislocate joints, break teeth or even chew or twist off a limb in their desperate attempts to escape, or can be left suffering for hours or even days before the trapper returns to kill them.

Snare traps, made of a wire or cable loop, can become deeply embedded in an animal's skin, causing lacerations and tissue damage, and result in pain, injury and even death. Animals captured in snares are known to frantically chew on the cable and on their own limbs in an attempt to free themselves.

These traps are also indiscriminate, and often capture, maim and kill non-target wildlife and companion animals without warning. While Congress doesn’t have the authority to stop trapping everywhere, they can end the use of these dangerous devices on National Wildlife Refuge lands, which are supported by American taxpayer dollars and visited by millions of people every year.

TAKE ACTION

Contact your House member to urge their support of H.R. 4716, the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act.

This action alert is for U.S. residents. International advocates, please visit Humane Society International.

Your Message

Subject*

Dear Legislator,

As a constituent, I am writing to urge you to support the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act (H.R. 4716) and to do all you can to pass  this vital legislation quickly, to end the cruel trapping of animals within the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Trapping is viciously cruel and violent and out of line with American values. Trapping devices are deadly to targeted wildlife, but they can also harm companion animals and protected wildlife. Most trapping is not conducted for food or subsistence, instead it's done as a misguided and ineffective attempt to prevent conflicts or to provide an opportunity" for trappers to sell their pelts for private profit. This is an unacceptable exploitation of a public resource that may marginally benefit only a very few individuals.

The demand for fur is disappearing, with the fur market bottoming out as supply swamps demand and a rapidly growing list of fashion designers and prominent apparel companies reject it, including Prada, Armani, Versace, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, DKNY, Burberry, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Moncler, Balenciaga, and Dolce & Gabbana. 

National polling, even by pro-trapping organizations, finds that Americans overwhelmingly oppose trapping. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's most recent data on outdoor recreation shows that wildlife watchers far outnumber hunters and outspend hunters by almost three to one, and American taxpayer revenue is the primary source of funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Cruel trapping should not be allowed on the federal lands supported by Americans who want to see their wildlife alive and thriving.

National wildlife refuges should live up to their name, as places where animals can be safe from the cruelties of trapping. Please support the Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act, H.R. 4716.

Thank you for your consideration.

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