Support Amendment to Help Stop
Use of Steel-Jawed Leghold Traps
The Problem | Every day in this country, countless animals suffer agonizing deaths as a result of being caught in steel-jawed leghold traps.
- Steel-jawed leghold traps are cruel, subjecting victims to broken bones, severe lacerations, starvation, dehydration, gangrene, and exposure to the elements while awaiting the final death blow of the trapper's club. Some animals chew off their own limbs in a desperate attmept to escape the trap. Because of the sheer cruelty they inflict, 88 countries and several states within the U.S. have already banned the use of the trap altogether.
- Leghold traps are indiscriminate. Non-target animals, including endangered species and family pets, are frequent victims of traps. Some studies have shown that accidental victims outnumber targeted ones 10 to 1.
- Public opinion strongly favors a complete ban on leghold traps. Polls consistently show strong public disapproval of the steel-jawed leghold trap and of trapping for fur. In the past decade, six states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachussets and New Jersey — have outlawed these traps. Many other states restrict leghold traps by law or regulation.
The Solution | Senator Robert Torriceli will offer an amendment to the
Interior Appropriations bill to restrict the use of steel-jawed leghold
traps on National Wildlife Refuges. This amendment, which will likely
be voted upon soon, would prohibit the use of government resources to
administer, permit, or promote the use of steel-jawed leghold traps for
commercial or recreational purposes on Refuges. We should not allow the
use of these traps on taxpayer-funded lands set aside for the protection
of wildlife.
In response to the overwhelming public sentiment against trapping on refuges, an identical amendment restricting traps has already been passed in the US House of Representatives by a strong vote of 259 to 166.
Action | Please
contact both your U.S. Senators today and urge them to support
the Torricelli amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill, to
restrict the use of steel-jawed leghold traps on National Wildlife Refuges.
Please call your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121 (U.S. Capitol Switchboard). If you need help finding the names of your senators, please visit www.vote-smart.org or call The HSUS Government Affairs Dept. at (202) 955-3668.
Susan Asher, Executive Director
Proposed Rules for Pet Ownership
in Public Housing
HUD Regulations Update | For many years, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been committed to helping housing managers, pet owning residents, non-pet owning residents, and pets live together successfully in multi-family housing.
Since 1983, senior citizens and people with disabilities living in certain federally subsidized housing projects have been allowed to have pets. In 1998, The Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act extended that privilege to all residents in federally-assisted housing projects. We have until August 23 to comment on HUD's proposed regulations which, as written, seriously jeopardize the success of this effort (Proposed Rules for Pet Ownership in Public Housing; Docket No. FR-4437-P-01).
Successful pet ownership in public housing depends upon good rules, such as the detailed mandatory and discretionary requirements in effect for pets in public housing for the elderly and the disabled. The HSUS has worked closely with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), a pioneer in the pets-in-housing field and urges HUD to adopt the MSPCA's successful, comprehensive, multi-family pet-keeping policies. The HSUS submitted comments to HUD based on the MSPCA policy. Unfortunately, none of our suggestions were included in the proposed rule.
Action | Please contact the Office of the General Counsel, Rules Docket Clerk, Rm 10276, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20410-0500 and urge them to require spaying and neutering of companion animals as the most important condition of responsible pet ownership in congregated housing and particularly in federally-subsidized housing; to establish “pet committees” to oversee the day-to-day operation of the pet ownership policies and enforcement of the pet rules; to ensure that pet rules protect the safety, health, and well-being of pets as well as people; and to not require procedures such as declawing or removing an animal's vocal cords as conditions of pet ownership.
Ann Church
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