Sound Off: Animal Trapping
In Oregon, it is legal to trap foxes, coyotes, raccoons and other fur-bearing animals for game. The regulations around trapping remain a vestige of pioneer days. For example, trapping is allowed on public lands as long as the trap is set more than fifty feet from a public trail or 300 feet from trailheads and campgrounds. A trapper is required by law to check what has walked into his trap only once in two days. In November, measure 97, which would restrict trapping, is on the ballot. We reached out to both sides of this debate, but the Oregon Trappers Association declined to comment. Wally Sykes Founder, TrapFree Oregon ALTHOUGH MOST OREGONIANS AREN’T AWARE, trapping in Oregon is a stark, brutal reality. About 800 fur trappers (.0002 percent of the state population) kill more than 20,000 animals annually using leghold traps, neck snares and Conibear body-gripping traps. The latter two are…