Animal activists protest N.S. trapping laws

Okay - I feel sick about the following statement from the below article:

"But Sabean said before pet owners demonize hunters, they should look closely
at the regulations governing dog ownership, adding it's illegal to allow a
dog to run free in a wildlife habitat."Trappers are taking the heat for this at this point in time but there's some reason for the dog owners to take some responsibility as well.''"

I feel sick about that because I consider my dogs to be members of my family - well socialized members of my family who respond to me when I ask them to come to me or ask me to follow me in a certain direction or to leave anything they come upon. Just like - or actually much better - than any child that you'd take into the woods with you. So why would I treat me dog any differently than I would a child and tether him to me whenever I take my dog out for a hike? It doesn't make sense. I pay taxes just like trappers and hunters do - I should be able to enjoy the beauty of Nova Scotia just like anyone else - and so should all my chosen family members - I've chosen to adopt 4 footed family members while others have chosen to adopt 2 footed members - why should I be treated differently?

For links to other trapping information on my website go to the main page of my website at http://www.geocities.com/charlieloveshalifax/ - there is really awful stuff going on right now...

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Animal activists protest N.S. trapping laws

Susan Aitken

Canadian Press

Sunday, February 13, 2005

HALIFAX (CP) -- If you own land in Nova Scotia, you could have animal traps
on your property and not even know it.

The laws governing trapping in the province are coming under fire from
animal rights groups who are demanding changes to guidelines that currently
allow hunters to set traps designed to kill, even on private property.

About two dozen protesters paraded outside a Halifax fur store Saturday as
part of the 16th National Anti-Fur Day in an effort to end what they call an
"archaic'' and "barbaric'' practice.

Among them was Janice Peters, whose pet husky dog, Storm, recently survived
a night caught in a trap only a few hundred metres from her home which backs
onto the Lower LaHave Commonlands near Bridgewater.

"She went out for a run and didn't come back,'' said Peters, clutching a
photo of the fluffy pooch. "All I could hear was her screaming ... and her
snout was caught in one of these traps.''

Peters managed to save Storm but said she was appalled that there were no
signs indicating that traps were in the area.

Nor, according to the provincial Wildlife Act, did there have to be one.
The province's fur harvesting regulations state only that traps cannot be
placed within 180 metres of "a dwelling, school, playground, athletic field
or place of business.''

Outside that limit, all cultivated land, even private property is fair game
for trappers who don't need the owner's permission to set their snares.

"The only way that you are protected is if you post signs on your private
property saying that there is no hunting and/or trapping allowed,'' said
Marni Janet of the Nova Scotia Humane Society.

"If you do not have those signs on your property, anybody can set any kind
of trap on your private property.''

Barry Sabean, director of wildlife for the province's Department of Natural
Resources, confirmed that a sign reading 'private property' or `no
trespassing' does not prohibit trappers from hunting on private property.

Without the right signage, even a land owner who finds a trap on his
property outside the 180-metre limit does not have the right to tamper with
it or remove it, Sabean said.

When it comes to public roadways, anyone can place a trap anywhere along a
public roadway, something Dale Stone discovered in a tragic accident earlier
this month.

The horseback riding instructor was riding with a student and her
three-year-old dog, Bear, along a public highway in Cape Breton on Feb. 4,
when something caught the dog's attention.

Within seconds, Stone says she heard a snap, and turned to see her German
shepherd-border collie mix caught in a large trap just 10 metres from the
road.

"I couldn't get to him fast enough to save him,'' said Stone, from her home
in Big Baddeck.

The dog struggled, but was dead by the time Stone jumped from her horse and
reached the trap, which had been baited with a deer carcass.

Stone said she has started a petition to get the regulations changed to keep
traps well away from residential area, something that just might happen
according to the natural resources official.

The department has set up a committee of trappers, trail experts and dog
lovers to examine trapping guidelines.

"We're looking at the whole issue of boundaries of highways, private
property, dog-proof boxes, those sorts of things.''

But Sabean said before pet owners demonize hunters, they should look closely
at the regulations governing dog ownership, adding it's illegal to allow a
dog to run free in a wildlife habitat.

"Trappers are taking the heat for this at this point in time but there's
some reason for the dog owners to take some responsibility as well.''

Sabean said he expects to have some recommendations from the committee in
about a month, and is confident there will be some changes to the
regulations before next season.

Stone said those changes can't come soon enough.

"I am afraid now,'' she said. "I went around the area the next day and I
found at least 25 traps right around this loop that I take my horses and
dogs on.''

"The place is like a minefield out here,'' she said.
© Canadian Press 2005