This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting comments on a proposed rule to enhance and maintain the well-being of the National Wildlife Refuge System by creating new protections for predators among other things. Tell the agency that banning trapping is crucial to this plan and needs to be included.

The plan, which is intended to guide management practices in wildlife refuges, takes a proactive stance in regard to addressing biodiversity loss and the climate crisis and would prohibit predator control. As the plan currently is written, though, it exempts trapping and killing predators for recreation and “damage control.”

Body-gripping traps such as neck snares, padded and unpadded steel-jawed leghold traps, and body-crushing traps such as Conibear, quick-kill, and snap traps are inherently cruel and indiscriminate, contradicting principles of ethical wildlife management. These traps not only endanger target species but also pose risks to humans, animal companions, and non-target species, including those already vulnerable to extinction. Animals caught in leghold traps often chew off their own limbs to escape or are left to suffer in excruciating pain and fear.

The use of body-gripping traps for lethal management in national wildlife refuges jeopardizes wild animals, ecosystems, outdoor enthusiasts, and their animal companions, undermining the sanctity of these protected areas. We must encourage the US Fish and Wildlife Service to uphold the original purpose of these refuges: to provide secure havens where native species including predators can thrive.

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.