The worldwide movement against the dreaded steel-jaw leghold trap received a major boost when California voters overwhelmingly approved a statewide ballot measure to ban the use of steel-jaw leghold traps and to restrict the use of other body-gripping traps. In a campaign where the proponents and opponents cumulatively spent $2 million, voters handily approved Proposition 4, which severely restricts the use of leghold traps of any variety, outlaws the use of snares and Conibears for recreation or commerce in fur, and forbids the use of two poisons – Compound 1080 and sodium cyanide – used by US Department of Agriculture field personnel engaged in killing coyotes.

California becomes, then, the fourth state since 1994 to pass a ballot measure banning cruel traps, joining Arizona, Colorado, and Massachusetts.

On the downside, Alaska voters overwhelmingly defeated a measure, Proposition 9, that would have outlawed the use of snares for killing wolves. The killing of wolves, encouraged by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and by privately funded bounties, has provoked national outrage. Massive wolf kills by "saturation snaring" (the placement of dozens of cruel wire snares in underbrush) are decimating whole families.

Nationwide, voters decided 11 ballot measures which had major implications for animals. They sided with animal advocates in seven of 11 campaigns, continuing a major series of successful statewide ballot campaigns since 1990.

For their first time ever, voters directly decided whether cockfighting should be legal. Voters in Arizona and Missouri overwhelmingly approved propositions to outlaw the gruesome and barbaric practice of cockfighting, in which roosters are drugged and fitted with metal knives on their legs to fight to the death. Arizonans approved the cockfighting ban by a 68 percent majority, while Missouri voters approved a similar measure by 63 percent. Only three states now permit this archaic practice – Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

In addition to banning cruel traps, Californians passed a separate measure, Proposition 6, to ban commercial sale of horses for human consumption. Nearly 60 percent of voters favored that measure. In recent years, the media have widely reported the inhumane treatment of horses transported and slaughtered in the United States and then shipped to foreign markets for sale for human consumption.

Animal advocates suffered a major setback in Ohio where voters turned away a measure to restore the state's long-standing protections for mourning doves by a three to two margin. Hunting and gun industry groups spent $3 million on the campaign, out-spending dove protectors by a factor of eight. Their remarkably deceptive advertising campaign, falsely argued that the plainly worded measure was a first step to ban all animal research and farming! Dove advocates did not have enough funds to counter their farfetched allegations.

Other bad news came in Minnesota and Utah, whose voters approved measures referred to the ballot by all state legislatures to protect hunting and trapping. Animal protectors were decidedly outspent-five to one in Minnesota and 12 to one in Utah.

Between 1940 and 1990, voters sided with animal advocates on only one statewide ballot measure. Since 1990, voters have sided with animal protectors on 17 campaigns – a startling turnaround and an indication of an emerging social consciousness about animals and a developing political sophistication for out social movement.

Wayne Pacelle is the Senior Vice President, Communications & Government Affairs, for The Humane Society of the United States.

By starring in the Pets and Wildlife-California's Vote YES on Proposition 4 campaign commercial, a maimed dog helped convince voters to ban the steel-jaw leghold trap.

While driving along a California interstate last June, Jennifer Van Ness spotted an injured dog. She tried to coax the dog into her car, but to no avail. The terrified canine retreated into a wildlife corridor, built to allow wildlife to pass safely under highways. Jennifer returned day after day, leaving food, water, and a warm blanket when the pup proved too scared to go to her.

Jennifer enlisted the help of Officer Todd Lurie of the Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley to catch the badly wounded dog. Upon Lurie's close investigation of the area, the extent of the poor animal's horrific ordeal became evident. Lurie found the remains of the dog's leg clamped in a steel-jaw leghold trap. It was obvious that he had chewed off his leg to escape the agony of the steeljaw leghold trap. Luckily, Lurie was able to catch the dog in a box trap to take him to a veterinarian.

After extensive surgery, the unfortunate dog recovered, albeit missing his left hind leg. He also found a home. Jennifer decided that she and Dillon – as the three-legged dog is now known – were meant to be together.

AWI Quarterly Fall/Winter 1998/1999, Volume 47/48, No. 4/1 p. 4