Lawsuit Filed Against the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commission

Recently, we told you about an exciting lawsuit that has been filed by two courageous Nevada residents, Mark Smith and Don Molde, against the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners. The lawsuit argues that these officials have failed to protect so-called “non-target” animals, including wild and companion animals from harm caused by recreational trappers.

The press release that accompanied the filing of the legal complaint noted that the state wildlife agency’s own data showed that, “many thousands of unintended or ‘non-target’ animal victims were caught, injured, or killed by trappers over the last ten years.” Some of these trap victims include pack rats, rabbits, golden eagles, domestic pets, and mountain lions.

The plaintiffs have the data to prove that many mountain lions suffer from trap-related injuries before they are killed by hunters. In fact, one out every six mountain lions killed and taken through certain hunter check stations in Nevada show these kind of trap injuries. Mountain lions are injured and killed because they inhabit similar habitats as bobcats, who are being relentlessly pursued and killed by trappers for their fur, which can easily fetch $1000 per bobcat on the global fur market. It goes without saying that what happens to mountain lions (let alone bobcats and other furbearing animals), happens to other animals—wild and domestic—as well.

The plaintiffs argue that the Commission has failed to carry out its statutory obligation to “preserve, protect, manage and restore wildlife within Nevada”—wild animals, who “belong” to all residents of Nevada, including the plaintiffs, and not just to hunters and trappers. However, through the Commission’s recent approval of requiring trappers to check their traps in a mere 96-hour (4 days!) interval, the Commission has placed trappers’ convenience above its general obligation to protect so-called non-target species, including mountain lions and domestic animals, from injury or death from accidental trap and snare encounters.

One desirable outcome of this legal action would be an injunction preventing or delaying the imminent trapping season. The lawsuit was filed on August 28, and the Commission now has 30 days to respond, so we should expect some news at the end of September. We will continue to follow this potentially landmark lawsuit and bring you updates as they occur.

You can read the complaint here.