This commentary is by Brenna Galdenzi of Stowe, president and co-founder of Protect Our Wildlife.
There is a concerted effort underway by both trapping lobbyists and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to market steel-jawed leghold traps as more “humane.” This propaganda machine is largely due to Fish & Wildlife’s new “best management practices” for trapping as required under Act 159.
Sure, the euphemism of “padded” leghold traps might sound benign enough until one actually sees an animal trapped in said trap. Would your hand experience any less pain if it was slammed in a car door that had a thin strip of “padding”? What if your hand remained crushed in that door for a day while subjected to freezing temperatures, snow and other harsh elements with no cover? That is the plight of bobcats, coyotes, foxes and countless other animals labeled “furbearer” species who are trapped for recreation.
And it’s not just wild animals who suffer. A woman was walking her dog in Pownal on Dec. 31, 2024, on a trail she’s enjoyed since her childhood, only to have her dog painfully ensnared in a leghold trap. She and her partner could not remove the trap from her yelping dog and had to enlist help from a third person. When the dog was released and brought to the vet, it was determined that the dog had broken teeth with painful exposed tooth pulp and also soft tissue damage to the paw.
The dog was only in the trap for 25 minutes. Imagine the injuries that wild animals like bobcats, coyotes and foxes endure for a day or longer while trapped. Vermont Fish & Wildlife tells Vermonters that traps don’t harm pets and they can be easily released from traps. I consider that some pretty serious gaslighting. We’ve asked them to update their website, but they’ve refused because having to admit that traps hurt animals and they can’t be easily released disrupts their pro-trapping narrative.
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Various surveys reveal that the majority of Vermonters want to ban trapping, but due to Vermont Fish & Wildlife essentially operating as a lobbying arm for trappers, we are not surprised by their tone-deaf response to this reality. The University of Vermont’s Center for Rural Studies’ survey revealed 75% of Vermonters who responded with a yes or no want to ban all leghold, kill and drowning traps.
Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s own 2022 survey conducted by Responsive Management, a company that conducts surveys for state fish and game agencies, revealed that only 26% of Vermonters approve of trapping for recreation, which I suspect is the bulk of trapping performed during the legal season. Their survey also revealed that only 42% approved of trapping and when asked if they support “regulated trapping” responded at 60% (the 60% figure is what they publicize). Approval of “regulated” trapping could mean that people approve of Fish & Wildlife having regulations which govern trapping, not that they approve of trapping as an activity. The survey has been accused of using persuasive and craftily worded questions to elicit a desired response.
Despite that, the answers still reveal that trapping is not well-supported by Vermoters, even when greenwashing efforts are attempted. In addition, when the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association conducted a survey, 66% did not approve of leghold traps, even those under the guise of “best management practices” approved traps. Some of the veterinarians who took the survey are rural vets who work for farmers, so let’s not assume that those vets who oppose trapping are urban-centered vets working in Burlington. Speaking of those urban vets, retired veterinarian Dr. Peggy Larson has gone on record multiple times stating, “As a veterinarian, I have treated cats and dogs caught in traps. Most required amputation of the affected limb. The tissue damage was extensive and infected. Some dogs had broken teeth from biting at the trap.”
Let’s pull the proverbial Band-Aid off. Not until Vermont bans the use of leghold traps will Fish & Wildlife and the Legislature rest. The Vermont public will continue to demand that these indiscriminate land mines that are responsible for such senseless and torturous suffering be banned just as other states including Colorado and Arizona have done.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Brenna Galdenzi: Pull the Band-Aid off and ban leghold traps.