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Initiatives Against Cruel Traps in Oregon and Washington The worldwide movement against the use of steel jaw leghold traps has gained powerful momentum in the United States. Protect Pets and Wildlife, a coalition of over 100 groups, including the Society for Animal Protection Legislation, has gathered 360,000 signatures, sufficient to qualify trapping initiatives for inclusion in statewide ballots in both Oregon and Washington. These two measures, virtually identical in content, ban the use of cruel traps and snares for recreational and commercial trapping. A huge, inflatable bobcat in a steel jaw leghold trap bobbing up in both states was an attention grabbing device that brought the issue into focus for the public and helped to trigger this enormous number of signatures.Oregon’s trap line requirements are among the most lax in the nation: lines need be visited only every 48 hours, and, appallingly, traps set for coyotes need never be checked. Inhumane traps cause endless suffering, not only to target species, but to pets, deer and birds including the eagle—our country’s symbol. If these two ballot measures are voted into law, Oregon and Washington will join other American states that have banned use of the steel jaw trap, as well as 89 forward-looking foreign nations including all the states of the European Union.
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