A Barbaric Practice Wolf Trapping

A BARBARIC PRACTICE: WOLF TRAPPING

In the event you are not familiar with wolf trapping, below is a brief overview of what it looks like. Please be warned that you may find this information very disturbing. First, a trapper will be legally allowed to set a baited metal snare or leg hold trap to capture the wolf. Once captured, the wolf may wait in agony in a painful leg trap for a prolonged period, up to 24 hours, until the trapper returns. During this time, the wolf is subjected to severe pain and prolonged mental distress and sometimes a wolf will chew its own leg off in a desperate attempt to escape. This is a well known phenomenon called “ring-off”, and the wolf, after experiencing this trauma, will die as a result. When the trapper does finally return to check the trap, they will kill the wolf by strangulation or blunt force trauma (stomping it to death) in order to preserve the fur, which may be sold on the open market for as little as $100.

Trapping is a barbaric practice and would be considered criminal animal cruelty in any other context. Animal cruelty has long been recognized as a behavior trait of individuals that commit other violent acts such as child abuse. Legally protecting this type of behavior to gain pelts, claws, and skulls unnecessarily risks desensitizing young people to the animals’ pain, and sends the wrong message about the humane treatment of animals. In addition to the wolves that will be trapped and killed, trapping is known to typically claim the lives of 2-3 other species for each species actually targeted with the trap. This is because the trapper just sets their trap and leaves and any animal unlucky enough to come across it will lose its life since the trap doesn’t know the difference.