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Trapping Agony Continues: The Hsus Fights To End The Anguish

Close Up Reports

Despite the fact that the steel-jaw leghold trap has been outlawed in dozens of civilized nations, each year in the United States, its vicious jaws maim and kill an estimated 15 million animals. For wild creatures that have no owners awaiting their return, their cries of anguish go unheard and unanswered.

New Jersey Outlaws Steel-Jaw, Leghold Trap

Close Up Reports

It took almost two decades of dedicated struggle and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we finally did it! The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), with the help of our members, other organizations, and local humane groups, succeeded in getting New Jersey to outlaw the steel-jaw, leghold trap! By the fall of 1985, it will be illegal for anyone to manufacture, sell, possess, or use the trap in that state. New Jersey's wildlife will be able to roam the woodlands and bogs free from the threat of trap-caused mutilation or death.

As monumental as New Jersey's victory is, …

Injuries To Birds Of Prey Caught In Leghold Traps, Katherine Durham

Conservation Collection

173 birds of prey, including 32 Bald Eagles, have been treated for trapping injuries at the University of Minnesota Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program since 1972. These were birds caught primarily in "open" bait /eghold sets incidental to furbearer trapping in the Minnesota region. The differential outcome of the injuries with respect to crippling or mortality is presented for large versus small raptors, toe versus leg injuries, and fracture of the leg versus soft tissue damage only.

There is only limited potential for mitigating the effects of trapping injuries to raptors because of the irreversible soft tissue damage usually associated …

Special Report On The Cruelties Involved In Wild Animal Trapping

Special Reports

Great numbers of Americans who buy and wear the furs of wild animals are unaware of the enormous cruelty and suffering that goes into producing them.

These animals are caught in a steel jaw trap which holds the leg in a crushing, painful grip. So intense is the pain and terror the animals feel that they often twist or gnaw off their own legs to free themselves from their nightmarish agony. After getting free at such a cost, many of the animals later die a slow death of gangrene, or in their weakness from shock, loss of blood and infection …

Special Report On Trapping

Special Reports

The steel jaw trap is one of the cruelest devices invented by man. It can be hidden under grass along a well-trodden animal path, under water, or among the leaves of a tree. When triggered by an animal's weight, the heavy steel jaws spring shut over a paw or a leg with such force that bones are sometimes broken. Some leghold traps contain sharp steel teeth that pierce all the way through flesh and muscles.