Roxy’s Law is working!

Roxy’s Law is working!

TrapFree New Mexico, our partners, and thousands of New Mexicans worked for years to make public lands in our state safer for people, pets, and native wildlife. Finally, Roxy’s Law was enacted in 2021 and implemented in 2022. Since then, there has been a stark decline...
Dog survives brink of death run-in with potentially illegal snare

Dog survives brink of death run-in with potentially illegal snare

ESPAÑOLA, N.M. — Española Humane workers never know what’s going to come through their doors, but Wednesday brought an unusually rare case. “Almost unrecognizable as a dog,” said Mattie Allen, director of communications for Española Humane. “It’s pretty shocking to...
Bye-Bye, Trapping on Public Land in New Mexico

Bye-Bye, Trapping on Public Land in New Mexico

Mary Katherine Ray helped outlaw traps in her state 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,...

Roxy’s Law now in effect on New Mexico public lands 🐕

Dear Friends of TrapFree New Mexico, Thanks to the contributions of thousands of TrapFree New Mexico supporters, November 1, 2022 marks the beginning of a very different and vastly diminished wildlife trapping season in New Mexico. For the first time ever, all public...
Roxy’s Law Banning Traps, Snares, and Poisons on New Mexico Public Lands Goes Into Effect

Roxy’s Law Banning Traps, Snares, and Poisons on New Mexico Public Lands Goes Into Effect

Dear TrapFree New Mexico Friend, Today’s the day we’ve all been waiting for: Roxy’s Law (the Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act) went into effect this morning, making the vast majority of all traps, snares, and poisons illegal on approximately 32 million...

Roxy’s Law a win, but wildlife governance needs reform

Traps, snares and poisons are lethal devices that have inflicted serious harm on people, pets and wildlife across the state for a very long time. But, fortunately, times are changing. The Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act, also known as “Roxy’s Law” – named...
Las Cruces Sun-News: It is time for New Mexico trapping laws to catch up

Las Cruces Sun-News: It is time for New Mexico trapping laws to catch up

On a warm November morning, a man taking a stroll through the amazing trails south of Santa Teresa discovered a pile of some forty dumped animals. What he first thought were dead greyhounds turned out to be coyotes. They had been killed and skinned, and left with only...
Albuquerque Journal Editorial: Nothing about traps is New Mexico True

Albuquerque Journal Editorial: Nothing about traps is New Mexico True

BY ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD Monday, December 7th, 2020 at 12:02am New Mexicans have worked hard over the years to do right by the animals in our state. We have banned cockfighting, horse tripping and coyote-killing contests. We have made dog fighting a...

New Mexico commission approves wildlife trapping changes

ALBUQUERQUE — Trappers now have to complete an education course and new restrictions will be imposed on setting wildlife traps and snares around designated trailheads and on select tracts of public lands in New Mexico under a measure adopted Friday by the State Game...

New Mexico Game Commission adds restrictions on trapping in divided vote

LAS CRUCES — The New Mexico State Game Commission voted 5-2 to extend certain restrictions on trapping during its public meeting in Las Cruces Friday. The change mandates that anyone purchasing a trapping license undergo a mandatory trapping education course that...

New Mexico Game Commission approves trapping, disregarding public opposition

Wolves, pets remain at risk The New Mexico Game Commission approved trapping of bobcats, foxes, and other wildlife throughout the state on January 17. The decision reauthorizes the use of leghold traps, body-crushing traps, and strangulation snares that have killed...

MY VIEW: Trapping will damage tourism

It is hard to believe the state ⏤ always in need of revenue ⏤ is intentionally acting to decrease its most dependable revenue stream: tourism. This is unimaginable; the state is acting to purposely lose residents and tourists by condoning and actively perpetuating...

Speak out to oppose trapping on public lands

New Mexico has a problem with traps on public lands. The ongoing destruction inflicted by hidden, baited, steel jaw traps is well documented. Users of public lands, companion animals and wildlife, including endangered species, continue to suffer the harm inflicted by...
Inconsistency at Game and Fish: After state rejoins wolf recovery program, two pups caught in leghold traps

Inconsistency at Game and Fish: After state rejoins wolf recovery program, two pups caught in leghold traps

In early November, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish formally rejoined the federal Mexican Wolf Recovery Program as a lead agency. The department signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a framework for...

Game Commission ignores public, pushes inadequate trapping rule

2400 public comments result in zero change to rule proposal ROSWELL, NM—At their November meeting, the New Mexico Game Commission made zero amendments to a set of proposed changes to the trapping rules. Department staff said that approximately 2400 public comments had...
Cruel or essential? Map details trapping incidents across New Mexico

Cruel or essential? Map details trapping incidents across New Mexico

Map shows trapping incidents occurred in 22 counties in New Mexico Nogal resident Kathleen McDonald had climbed about 100 yards into the Lincoln National Forest when Jasper, her Golden retriever Jasper suddenly began yelping and crying. “I went running down and...

TrapFree New Mexico releases map cataloguing trapping incidents in New Mexico

For Immediate Release November 4, 2019 Contacts: Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, Mary Katherine Ray, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, 575-772-5655, Laura Bonar, Animal Protection of New Mexico &...