Legal foothold traps pose unacknowledged risk to pets, humans in VT

To the Editor:
The recreational trapping season in Vermont begins on October 25 and runs through March 31. This includes the use of baited steel-jawed leghold traps and body-crushing kill traps, as well as underwater cage traps that drown multiple animals at once. While land trapping ends on December 31, water trapping for beavers, otters, and muskrats continues through the end of March. Trapping is allowed on public lands without any warning. Trapping “in defense of property,” as allowed under title 10 §4828, occurs year-round with little oversight. 
In January of this year, Protect Our Wildlife formally requested that Vermont Fish & Wildlife correct inaccurate and misleading information on its website that claims: “Pets caught in foothold traps can be easily released without harm.” We asked for this change in the interest of public safety. We included language from Idaho’s Fish & Game department that does a much better job of explaining the dangers of traps and how to safely release your pet, yet Vermont Fish & Wildlife refused. Sadly, Idaho Fish & Game is doing things better than our own Fish & Wildlife department. 
Releasing a panicked and injured animal from a trap is far from easy—and can be dangerous.  Fish & Wildlife’s own incident reports include an instance where a trapper was unable to release his own dog from a trap he had set. Vermonters have been bitten while attempting to free their pets. Last year, a woman’s dog was caught in one of Fish & Wildlife’s so-called “best management practice” traps in Pownal and had to be rushed to an emergency veterinarian for treatment of multiple injuries, including broken teeth.
The whole notion of “best management practices for trapping” has been challenged, including in the peer-reviewed paper “Best Management Practices for Furbearer Trapping Derived from Poor and Misleading Science.” Traps currently allowed in Vermont still cause immense suffering to bobcats, foxes, and other wildlife labeled as “furbearer” species. Animals often bite at the metal trap to escape, breaking teeth and severely injuring their mouths. In desperate attempts to free themselves, they may lunge repeatedly, leading to torn ligaments, dislocated joints, and other painful injuries. Despite these realities, Fish & Wildlife—and the trappers they represent—continue to downplay the risks, as evidenced on their website, seeking public support for a deeply controversial practice.
Traps not only harm their intended targets but also kill and injure countless non-target species every year—dogs, owls, eagles, turtles, and others. These animals are casually referred to by trappers and Vermont Fish & Wildlife as “incidental takes.” Shockingly, trappers are not even required to seek help when non-target animals are caught—if they attempt to release them at all. We do not know how many severely injured animals are released, only to suffer and die painfully out of sight.
In 2022, the Vermont Legislature tasked the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department with reevaluating trapping practices to address growing concerns around safety and animal welfare. However, the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules rejected a number of Fish & Wildlife’s proposals, finding they failed to meet legislative mandates. As a result, Protect Our Wildlife filed a lawsuit against Fish & Wildlife, and the case is now headed to the Vermont Supreme Court.
We ask the public to not be lulled by Fish & Wildlife’s whitewashing of trapping. Please do your own research, especially if you have dogs and cats.  You can learn more about trapping in Vermont at www.protectourwildlifevt.org/trapping.
Brenna Galdenzi
Stowe
President, Protect Our Wildlife