A Valdez couple were devastated to find their beloved husky, whom some in the area referred to as “the Mayor of Valdez,” dead in a wire trap off Broken Arrow Road in early June.

The dog, named Zuni, went missing June 3 at about 3:30 a.m. during a routine bathroom trip outside.

This time, however, she didn’t come back inside right away. The dog’s owners figured she’d been spooked by an early morning thunderstorm.

On June 5, a neighbor, Tom Garcia, found the dog dead, tangled in an unmarked wire trap and fencing, as he was driving to work.

The incident is a reminder that in rural New Mexico unleashed pets can run afoul of traps legally set on private land to protect livestock from predators. Like many parts of Taos County, Valdez is a checkerboard of non-agricultural residential properties and land that families have ranched or farmed for generations.

Conservation officers with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish investigated the incident the same day it was reported and determined the property owner who set the trap was within his rights, according to Game and Fish regulations.

“The incident occurred on private land not owned by the owner of the dog,” said Darren Vaughan, communications director for Game and Fish. “Officers found no violations.”

Tony Valdez, co-owner of the property, said he set the traps as a deterrent, hoping dogs would learn not to come on his property, where he keeps livestock. Ranchers are wary of conflict, for example, between livestock and dogs — as well as wild predators like mountain lions and bear. In 2023, a bear killed dozens of sheep belonging to several ranchers in Arroyo Seco and El Salto.

According to the Game and Fish investigation report, the department “contacted Tony Valdez over the phone and learned that Mr. Valdez set the snares on the property for feral dogs in the area that have been attacking the cattle. This has been an ongoing issue with the feral dogs.”

“My motive is just a deterrent,” Valdez told the Taos News. “Those traps won’t kill a dog; they aren’t a true snare or a true trap. It’s a homemade bending wire deterrent. It’s possible but it’s not likely.” After learning of Zuni’s death, Valdez said he would set different traps.

The corner of Isaac Gonzalez’s property is about 10 feet from the fence line where the traps were left. Like many neighbors, he knew Zuni well.

“Unfortunately, I heard her last dying breaths,” Gonzalez said. “I didn’t know what it was, because the people at the bottom have so many animals. It sounded like a tropical bird or something. I’ve never heard anything like that. I walked towards the back, and I didn’t hear it anymore.”

When she was found, Zuni was caught so tightly in two snare traps and wire fencing that she had likely lost the ability to make any noise. One snare wrapped so fast around her hind leg it nearly reached the bone, and another around her neck appears to have strangled her. As she struggled, the wire tightened around her to a degree that her owners, Matt Gresham and Amy Zalta-Gresham, buried the dog with it.

“This feels as if we lost our baby — not to mention this could have happened to anyone’s beloved fur baby or even an unassuming child roaming in the neighborhood, as they’ve done freely in Valdez for generations,” Zalta-Gresham said.

“There are much safer traps that do not intend to kill, and we as a community would be grateful and help sponsor such traps, before it comes to the death of another member of our family,” she added. “This was cruel and inhumane.”

Neighbors who asked to remain anonymous said they removed at least seven other wire traps along the fence line. According to them, at least two other domestic dogs have been caught in snares in that spot along the pond. Both survived.

“It’s disheartening to think that it’s so close to my house,” Gonzalez said. “My dog, or another dog — or a child, or anyone — could potentially be a victim. The fact that it’s in a residential area blows my mind.”

Proper use of traps

New Mexico’s trapping regulations are intended to limit animal cruelty; such as checking the trap every 24 hours, leaving identification on the trap, and not setting them too close to water sources. However, these rules do not apply when the trapper intends to protect livestock on private property.

To keep companion animals safe, Animal Protection New Mexico recommends working with local animal control or law enforcement officers to trap targeted species, and “utilizing a non-lethal cage trap instead, to address damage being caused by loose dogs in a humane manner.”

“Animals don’t know when they are crossing from public land to private property, and traps and snares don’t discriminate between targeted and non-targeted animals,” said Stacy Sutton Kerby, APNM chief government affairs officer. “While New Mexico has taken the correct step in banning traps, poisons, and snares on public land, APNM believes strong regulations and restrictions should apply across any piece of land where people and animals traverse. Furthermore, lethal traps and snares should never be used to capture or kill dogs.”

Game and Fish recommends residents follow the animal control ordinance regarding dogs at large (including unleashed animals) and for livestock owners to follow the laws regarding livestock protection.

‘The Mayor of Valdez’

Like many dogs in the Valdez area, Zuni was known and loved by many; neighbors called her the Mayor of Valdez. She rode on the mayordomo’s truck on ditch cleaning day and visited Sheila Rey often for a 5 p.m. bone with other dogs. Other neighbors spoke about her chatty nature.

“Zuni had been coming to my house for years,” Rey said. “She was a sweetheart, extremely vocal. She was a people person, very friendly. Loved to be hugged, loved to be petted; and she loved her little treats I would give her.

“She was just a beautiful soul,” Rey added. “She didn’t deserve to die like that.”

Zalta-Gresham hopes Zuni’s death will create change, making residential areas and the many neighborhoods with a mix of agricultural and residential  properties safer for everyone.

“She was a beautiful soul in the valley of Valdez, as well as Taos Ski Valley, as her journeys brought joy to so many on a daily basis,” Zalta-Gresham said. “Her life was robbed, cut too short, but her memory has made her a martyr for change. We will do what it takes to remember her, and not let a savage act like this happen again.”

“Ordinances can and should be changed to stop poaching to kill in residential areas, for the sake of humanity and the so so many of us grieving for our Zuni girl,” Zalta-Gresham added. “She can’t be brought back but hopefully she can save lives. No unknowing pet or child deserves that fate.”

Read this article in the Taos News

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Game and Fish typically only see a couple cases a year involving illegal traps, but we’re a week into the new year, and they’re already seeing it.

Read this article on KOB4

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Dog (later named “Rodi”) hanging out across from the mail boxes in Rodarte with a severly injured front left leg: bones are sticking out. Front left leg dangling, hanging by a thread. Rodi wouldn’t let anyone near. Rodi was trapped by Conrad Mahafee of CMM Lost Pet Reovery and Humane Trapping by Nov. 5 and by that time the dog lost the lower part of his leg. Anaruth saw the dog before Conrad did. Rodi was sent to vet, had major surgery, lost his left shoulder too. Suspected illegal snare trap. The trap that may have caused the injury was not recovered and nobody would be able to say definitively if it was placed on public land illegally. Dog was fostered by Anaruth and named Rodi. Rodi was later adopted by a person from Santa Fe.

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“Almost unrecognizable as a dog,” said Mattie Allen, director of communications for Española Humane. “It’s pretty shocking to see a dog come in that is clearly strangulated.”

Rio Arriba County Animal Control officers brought in a seven-month-old puppy with a severely swollen head and an undeniable snare around his neck. The puppy was having a hard time breathing.

A good Samaritan called officers when they saw the dog running just north of Española.

“Fortunately, for this dog, he was able to actually pull the cable from whatever it was attached to and break himself free,” said Allen.

A vet team was able to sedate the dog and cut off the snare.

Two days later, the little guy, temporarily known as Muffin, is looking good as new.

But the incident raises questions about New Mexico’s trapping laws.

“The problem with these snares is that they’re indiscriminate. When you set a snare like that you can trap anything it does not discriminate what type of living being is getting strangled by this thing,” said Allen.

Roxy’s law went into effect last April in New Mexico, making it illegal to use traps, snares, or poisons to capture, hurt, or kill an animal on public lands. It doesn’t apply to private land.

Officers don’t know where exactly Muffin got caught, but advocates say they hope all property owners think twice about snares.

“I do hope that people are not setting these snares to trap dogs,” said Allen.  “It could be any type of wildlife, it could be a cat, it could be your family’s dog, it could be a kid. And it will go around a head and a neck, a foot, a hand, a paw, it doesn’t discriminate.”

Española Humane is taking suggestions for Muffin’s permanent name on its social media pages.

He’s getting neutered and up-to-date on shots and will be up for adoption soon.

Read this article on KOB.com

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“Che was having a walk as always at my chalet, and he got trapped,” said the constitutional lawyer. “I would say he was very close to dying because those are instruments to kill an animal, obviously.”

When Berard posted the account of his dog’s injury on Facebook, other pet owners began sharing their equally troubling stories.

“I received so many testimonies mentioning the same story again and again and again, and I realized it’s not an anecdote, it’s a phenomenon and we need to regulate that to stop that,” said Berard. “In 2023, we’re better than that in Quebec.”

The damage done to animals caught in traps is often severe.

“We’ve seen animals come in with muscle tears through their legs, and we’ve had to try to suture them back together,” said animal health technician Alexandra Yaksich. “We’ve seen animals come in that have been in these traps for days at a time, so they start to get very serious bacterial infections in their paws and going up their arms, and sometimes the only thing you can do in that case is amputate the arm.”

Yaksich said the physical damage to the pet is written all over the face of the pet’s owners.

“Often, the witnessing of such horrific images, especially when it’s your own animal, to see muscle exposed, lots of blood, that’s very traumatizing,” she said. “Often we hear from clients that they have dreams about it, and they’re still thinking about it years after it happened.”

Read this article in CTV News Montreal | Sign the Petition on Change.org

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Adapted from an interview by Lindsey Botts

January 1, 2023

A few years after moving to a remote area of southern New Mexico, I saw a Sierra Club ad in the local paper. I was a longtime member and thought, “That’s amazing that a Sierra Club group is forming in this rural area!” I joined it and made new friends, but it wasn’t until 2003 that I really became active as a leader.

That year, I was hiking on a winter morning on public land near my home with my two dogs. Suddenly, one of the dogs started pulling on his leash. At the spot he wanted to investigate, there was a hidden steel-jaw trap. It leapt out of the sand when I inadvertently triggered it and slammed shut on air. The dogs and I weren’t hurt, but that moment cleaved my life in two: before trapping and after trapping.

The injustice—that a trapper could legally put me in this dangerous situation and harm my dog—was unconscionable. I shared my story with a Sierra Club friend and mentor when I got home. She said that she had also recently run into a trap on an outing she was leading: A participant’s dog had gotten caught, and it ruined the entire excursion. We were furious. Placing people in harm’s way was wrong, to say nothing of subjecting wildlife to this cruelty. That’s when I began to actively advocate for a trapping ban on public lands.

We started with the New Mexico Game Commission. After several years of us trying—organizing and generating more opposition to traps—they remained unmoved. We felt ridiculed and belittled. It didn’t matter that every year more people submitted comments opposing traps on public land—100, 1,000, then 12,000 written comments didn’t make a difference. While leading an outing myself in 2011, our group came upon a coyote struggling and badly injured in a trap. I vowed to use her picture to publicize the brutality of trapping. She is memorialized as the logo of TrapFreeNM.org, the coalition of conservation and animal protection groups I helped bring together. I never could have done this work alone.

By 2013, our coalition realized that the game commission would not help us, and we needed the legislature to change the law. The resulting bill’s first sponsor was a legislator representing a tourist destination where people enjoy recreating on public lands and where a constituent not only had two dogs that got caught in traps but was also injured herself.

The bill didn’t pass when it was first introduced, but we kept at it. Our state legislature meets only every other year to consider nonbudgetary bills. With every iteration, more people, including legislators, became aware of the injustice of trapping.

Each session brought more public support, more media coverage, and more yes votes. In 2021, the bill passed the state senate floor. We knew it would be close in the house of representatives. After several hours of debate on the house floor, the tally was tied. A bill does not pass on a tie vote. The next two years and all the work ahead flashed before my eyes. But at the last moment, another yes vote was cast by a legislator. One of their constituents had a dog who was killed by a snare in 2018. The bill became known as Roxy’s Law in the dog’s memory. The law went to the governor’s desk. With her signature, 17 years after I started my advocacy, traps and poisons were finally outlawed on New Mexico public lands.

It’s unbelievable that in the 21st century, the archaic and cruel practice of trapping is still allowed. Our opponents ignored us, then laughed at us, then fought us. But finally we, the public, and wildlife won.

Read this article at Sierra

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Along with Roxy’s Law, New Mexico has recently taken other meaningful steps toward protecting wildlife. In 2019, the state banned gruesome coyote-killing contests, events that reward indiscriminate and senseless massacres. Currently, the state is rolling out its plan for projects to protect wildlife from vehicle collisions along heavily used movement and migration corridors.

These are signs of a new era across the Land of Enchantment. An era in which coexistence is the norm, exploitation and cruelty are waning, and native foxes, bobcats, beavers, badgers, and wolves are revered for their ecological roles and honored for their intrinsic value, not persecuted as inconveniences. We are leaving behind nearly two hundred years of primarily viewing wildlife as merely something to slaughter and sell.

Still, New Mexico isn’t yet the beacon of wildlife management that it should be:

+ A memorial urging the federal government to tackle the biodiversity crisis died without a vote on the state Senate floor last month.

+ Our Game Commission has been a merry-go-round as the governor appoints and fires commissioners at her whim. Yet she has let a year elapse since the tragic passing of David Soules without appointing anyone to the conservation position on the commission. Without stability on the commission, it’s unclear where needed leadership will come from.

+ The state is still on record opposing Mexican wolf restoration in the Southern Rockies, where lobos belong and where scientists say they need to live in order to fully recover.

Congress seems poised to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (“RAWA,” co-sponsored by Sen. Heinrich), which could provide funding to states to protect nongame wildlife. But our wildlife agency doesn’t even have the authority to manage or protect many species, including the Gunnison’s prairie dog, the Rio Grande sucker, and 23 of New Mexico’s 26 bat species, just to name a few. And they don’t want that responsibility; they want to continue to focus on the fraction of animals that are pursued and killed by sportsmen.

RAWA could be the inflection point New Mexico needs. Bold leadership is required to modernize the Department of Game and Fish. So, let’s remember there’s a lot of work still to do and progress to be made:

+ We need a comprehensive state wildlife agency more invested in protecting all wildlife, not focused only on game species like elk and nonnative rainbow trout.

+ We need a wildlife agency that sees all New Mexicans as stakeholders, not one that caters only to the minority of New Mexicans, who, like me, buy hunting and fishing licenses.

+ We need a wildlife agency with the authority, will, and revenue to manage and protect the many wildlife species in our state.

Roxy’s Law alone is worth celebrating, of course. But it also represents a critical marker on New Mexico’s path to reimagining how we perceive and live with the wildlife that makes this place special. Let’s take the next step and push for a state wildlife agency that serves all the people and wildlife of New Mexico.

Chris Smith is the Southern Rockies Wildlife Advocate with WildEarth Guardians. 

Read this article in Counterpunch »

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Roxy – the beloved dog killed by a neck snare in 2018 while hiking with her family – may not have received justice in the recent trial of the trapper accused of setting that snare. But she was victorious in a far greater way. Her face and name became emblematic of the campaign to stop the recreational and destructive use of traps, snares and poisons on New Mexico’s public lands. And, in 2021, that work finally paid off when “Roxy’s Law” was signed into law.

Roxy’s death appalled and alarmed many New Mexicans. It was her story that topped off years of work by Animal Protection New Mexico and other animal advocates to ban traps, snares and poisons on public lands. But that campaign started decades ago – long before Roxy’s death.

Advocates spent many years in the 2000s urging action by the state Game Commission, but to no avail. Turning to the New Mexico Legislature for a solution, the first bill introduced to ban traps, snares and poisons in New Mexico was in 2013.

When Roxy died in 2018, there had already been numerous well-publicized trapping horror stories in the news. And, after she died, dozens more stories were shared: more dogs and cats caught in leg-hold traps and strangled in neck snares, and more people outdoors discovering wildlife victims, as well: injured and emaciated foxes and bobcats, decaying bodies stuck in forgotten traps, and piles of skinned carcasses left by trappers after they took all the fur they could sell for profit.

By the time “Roxy’s Law” finally passed and was signed into law in spring of 2021, reports of roughly 150 terrifying incidents, illegal trapping citations and endangered species captured on public land had been collected. New Mexicans were saying “Enough!” And the Legislature agreed.

The public should still beware: The prohibition on traps, snares and poisons on public lands doesn’t take effect until April 1, 2022. We are in the midst of the last ever trapping season on public lands. Trapping season spans from Nov. 1 through March 31 – though some species can be trapped year-round.

Roxy was killed over a Thanksgiving weekend, so this holiday season, here are some things to know:

• Until April 2022, traps, snares and poisons are currently legal on public lands, and anyone on public lands may be endangered by them.

• Though it doesn’t guarantee safety for you or your companion animals, you can reduce your risk by staying on marked trails and keeping your animals on leash. This is often better for wildlife and habitat, as well.

• If you, a member of your party, or your animal is caught or injured by a trap, snare or poison, please report that incident online at trapfreenm.org or call the Animal Protection New Mexico cruelty hotline at 1-877-5-HUMANE (1-877-548-6263), and you can get help on relaying information to law enforcement, if applicable.

The terrible outcome in Roxy’s case – botched by investigators’ failure to properly handle evidence – means no one will be held accountable for setting the neck snare that killed her. Our hearts go out to the Clark family, as no one should have to watch their animal die so tragically before their eyes. But the law that is Roxy’s namesake will go on to protect thousands of animals from unspeakable suffering every year, a legacy much bigger than a single case or trial.

Read this article in the Albuquerque Journal

The post Roxy’s anti-trapping legacy greater than botched trial appeared first on TrapFree New Mexico.

But the way the trial and verdict has been framed is a disservice to the effort to ban cruel traps, snares and poisons across New Mexico’s public lands.

Several media outlets described Roxy’s tragic death as the impetus for passage of the Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act, which came to be called “Roxy’s Law.” It is true that Roxy became emblematic of the indiscriminate killing and danger that traps pose on public lands. However, the effort to ban traps from New Mexico public lands had been in the making for years before Roxy was killed.

It was the outcome of tens of thousands of New Mexicans coming to terms with the problems inherent with trapping and working hard to create a new paradigm for wildlife and hikers, hunters, campers and other users of public lands in the Land of Enchantment.

Taking Marty Cordova’s claim that he is a “scapegoat” at face value disregards all of the other pets who have been killed or injured in traps in New Mexico: Ophie, Murphy, Buster, Maxi, Strawberry, Ceniza, Tooli, Nelli, Cruzer, Ivy, Mahlia, Jessie, Joe, Sabina, Kutchin, Jetta, Zero, Toby, Pepper, Bo, Lulu, Ben Funbeast, Sammy, Jaky, Wiley, Beau, (another) Roxy, Ted, Bailey, Pearl, Noodles, Kekoa, Fibel, Ranger, Hopi, Jesse, Nina, Griz, Robin, Greta, Honey and many others unnamed or unknown.

Doing so also fails to account for at least 150,000 native animals that have been killed by trappers since 2008.

Furthermore, Cordova’s assertion — “Trapping is not bad; it’s a means of conservation, just like hunting deer or fishing” — is false. Trapping is not conservation. It is not like hunting deer or fishing. Trapping is cruel, dangerous and indiscriminate. It drains fragile ecosystems of the native species that keep things in balance. It turns wildlife into a commodity to be slaughtered, skinned, tanned and sold. It is deeply unpopular — New Mexicans oppose trapping by a wide margin.

Trapping was not on trial in the case surrounding Roxy’s death. Cordova was. And that seems to have been lost in the coverage. Cordova got his day in court, as is his right. But he was also given a platform from which to espouse the virtues of trapping and make it seem as though him being found not guilty — due at least in part to evidence being lost and photographs being deleted — means that trapping is redeemed.

The New Mexico lawmakers who decided earlier this year to end cruel trapping and poisoning of wildlife on public lands did so after hearing from activists (including sportsmen), scientists and trapping victims for well over a decade. The Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act will go into effect in April. It will make the outdoors safer and more accessible to visitors, prevent native animals from suffering and dying from these devices on approximately 32 million acres of public lands, and bring New Mexico’s wildlife policies closer into alignment with the best available science and modern ethics of coexistence.

New Mexico citizens and lawmakers have chosen to relegate public lands trapping and poisoning to the history books for myriad good and valid reasons. Roxy is one of those reasons, and her death became a rallying cry for the cause. Cordova’s not guilty verdict does not undo the progress we’ve made.

Chris Smith is the Southwest Wildlife Advocate for WildEarth Guardians.

Read this article in the Santa Fe New Mexican

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Contacts:
Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, csmith@wildearthguardians.org
Jessica Johnson, Animal Protection Voters, 505-220-6656, jessica@apvnm.org

SANTA FE, N.M.—Today Senate Bill 32, the Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act a.k.a. “Roxy’s Law,” passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 5 to 1. Senate Bill 32 makes important strides towards protecting all those who enjoy the outdoors, human and animals, by prohibiting traps, snares, and poisons on public lands (with a few important exemptions).

The vote demonstrated strong legislative backing for a bill that is supported by the majority of New Mexicans, from hunters and nature enthusiasts to dog walkers and park visitors.

Senator Brenda McKenna (D-Corrales) said, “I am proud to be a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 32—alongside Senator Bobby Gonzales, Representative Matthew McQueen, and Representative Christine Chandler—and thank my colleagues for their votes in support of the bill. We as a society can no longer condone the barbaric practice of using traps, snares, and poisons on public lands. I have, for years, supported outlawing usage of these cruel methods, especially since I myself once purchased a leghold trap for under $20 and could not open it without carefully using my feet. Imagine trying to free a pet or yourself under highly stressful and incredibly painful circumstances! I look forward to stewarding this bill through to the Governor’s desk, to protect the animals of the state and so we can all enjoy the outdoors in New Mexico.”

The bill will save unsuspecting companion animals and their human families from prolonged suffering. Since the 2020-2021 trapping season began, at least 9 dogs are known to have been caught in privately set traps and snares on public land across the state. The most recent incidents occurred near Abeyta, Pecos, Rowe Mesa, Cloudcroft, and Dixon.

Senate Bill 32 would also spare untold numbers of New Mexican wildlife from being killed via outdated and inhumane methods on public lands—nearly 150,000 native creatures have been killed by private trappers since 2008.

“It’s past time this madness ended,” said Chris Smith, southern Rockies wildlife advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “Public lands should be safe, wildlife should be respected, people should not be afraid to take their dogs or children on a hike. The solution is simple—the legislature needs to act.”

“Traps are like landmines, catching and harming any creature unlucky enough to step on them,” said Kevin Bixby, executive director of the Southwest Environmental Center. “It’s time to get them off our public lands.”

“As a wildlife biologist, I can say definitely that trapping is not a legitimate form of wildlife management,” said Michelle Lute, PhD, national carnivore conservation manager for Project Coyote. “Our public lands and the wildlife that live on them must be protected from such cruel and wanton waste.”

“No one who visits our public lands should be subjected to finding suffering wildlife in traps or the trauma of their own beloved dog being harmed,” said Mary Katherine Ray, Wildlife Chair of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, who has experienced the anguish of both.

“New Mexico Wild Action Fund believes that wildlife is held in public trust for the protection and continued enjoyment of all New Mexicans, and should not be commercialized. We applaud Senators Gonzales and McKenna and Representatives McQueen and Chandler for their efforts to end the practice of trapping on our public lands,” said Mark Allison, Executive Director of New Mexico Wild Action Fund.

Animal Protection Voters’ Chief Government Affairs Officer, Jessica Johnson, noted, “New Mexicans overwhelmingly agree that it is past time for New Mexico to join our neighboring states of Colorado and Arizona and say goodbye to traps, snares, and poisons on the public lands we share. Let’s not wait for more or bigger tragedies to happen before taking action.”

“Mexican gray wolves are the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in the world. Despite steady population growth over the past 20 years, trapping continues to hinder our ability to recover this important species,” says Michael Dax, New Mexico representative for Defenders of Wildlife. “The time has come to get traps off our public lands.”

“Trapping on public lands is indiscriminate and an ineffective tool for wildlife management, killing thousands of unintended animals instead of targeted predators; it’s primary motive is private profit from a public trust resource,” said Greg Peters, Public Lands & Wildlife Advocate for Conservation Voters New Mexico. “By ending trapping on our public lands, we will make them safer for NM residents and NM wildlife – creating more equitable access to nature while benefiting our local outdoor economy.”

“Today’s vote gives us hope that very soon, rare and beautiful animals will no longer fall victim to cruel and indiscriminate leghold traps and strangulation snares,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in Silver City. “These killing devices should never have been allowed on public lands.”

Senate Bill 32 will next be voted on by the full Senate before it can cross over to the House of Representatives.

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