News & Updates

‘He was very close to dying’: Dog owner calls for Quebec ban on leg hold traps

Mar 1, 2023 | Dog, Extreme Animal Cruelty, Public Safety, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Wildlife

After his beloved dog Che's snout was caught in a leg hold trap, Montrealer Frederic Berard started a campaign urging Quebec to heavily restrict or even ban their use. "Che was having a walk as always at my chalet, and he got trapped," said the constitutional lawyer....

In a win for animals, California’s ban on fur officially takes effect

Jan 23, 2023 | Banned Fur Sales, Commercial Fur Sales, Cruelty, Extreme Animal Cruelty, Fox, Fur Free Fashion, Fur Trade, Legislation, Public Opinion, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Ethics

Californians can now officially celebrate the end of fur sales in the Golden State. A statewide ban on the sale of new animal fur products went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, making California the first state in the U.S. to implement such a ban. Its citizens have waited...

Bye-Bye, Trapping on Public Land in New Mexico

Jan 5, 2023 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Coyote, Cruelty, Dog, Extreme Animal Cruelty, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Wildlife Management

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, "That's...

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

Nov 1, 2022 | NM Department of Game and Fish, Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Wildlife

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...

Illegal Trapper Arrested

Oct 27, 2022 | Badger, Illegal Trapping, NM Department of Game and Fish, Wildlife

MILAN, N.M. – Milan man Zacharia Copeland, 22, has been charged with Trapping Without a License. The charge came after Copeland posted a Facebook photo of a badger he had shot. Investigators found the photo, and on October 19 they filed a criminal complaint against...

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

Mar 31, 2022 | Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wildlife Ethics

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...

New Mexico Teeters on Edge of a New Era of CoExistence: Trapping Ban on Public Lands Goes into Effect April 1

Mar 31, 2022 | Endangered Species, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Posions, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Injuries, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Wildlife Management, Wolf

On April 1, Roxy’s Law—a ban on trapping on New Mexico public lands more than a decade in the making—goes into effect after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed it last year. Nearly 32 million acres of public lands, including state-owned parcels, national forests, and...

Finally, recreate safely with no harmful traps on public lands

Mar 31, 2022 | Dog, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Tourism Industry, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife, Wildlife Ethics, Wildlife Management

BY JESSICA JOHNSON / CHIEF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICER, ANIMAL PROTECTION VOTERS With warmer weather, many of us are reaching for our hiking boots, backpacks, and dog leashes – and we can finally breathe a little easier. That’s because, as of April 1, 2022, we have...

Trapping ban to take effect on public lands in New Mexico

Mar 31, 2022 | Mexican wolf, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

ALBUQUERQUE – It will be illegal to use wildlife traps, snares and poison on public lands across New Mexico under a ban that takes effect Friday. New Mexico is joining less than a handful of Western states in either prohibiting or limiting trapping on public lands,...

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

Mar 28, 2022 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Coyote, Letter to the Editor, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Opinion, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Wildlife Ethics, Wildlife Killing Contests, Wildlife Management

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...

Roxy’s Law makes public lands safer — now reform Game and Fish

Mar 27, 2022 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Letter to the Editor, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Waste, Wildlife Management

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...

Trap Incident Report: Dog caught in trap and snare near El Rito

Feb 2, 2022 | Cruelty, Dog, How to Release Dog from Trap, Illegal Trapping, NM Department of Game and Fish, Public Lands, Public Safety, Trap/Snare Incident Report

Trapping on Public Lands Last week a dog walking with its owner was caught in both a snare and leg hold trap off of FS-137 outside of El Rito. These illegally set traps on National Forest land were subsequently removed by New Mexico Game and Fish. The road the traps...

Roxy’s anti-trapping legacy greater than botched trial

Dec 1, 2021 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Extreme Animal Cruelty, Illegal Trapping, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife

BY JESSICA JOHNSON / CHIEF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICER, ANIMAL PROTECTION NEW MEXICO AND ANIMAL PROTECTION VOTERS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH, 2021 AT 12:02AM Roxy – the beloved dog killed by a neck snare in 2018 while hiking with her family – may not have received...

Not guilty verdict aside, Roxy’s Law still matters

Nov 29, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Cruelty, Dog, Extreme Animal Cruelty, Illegal Trapping, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping is Torture, Trapping on Public Lands, Waste, Wildlife

The trapper accused of killing Roxy, a Northern New Mexico cattle dog who was strangled to death in a snare near Santa Cruz Lake, recently was found not guilty. The verdict was immensely disappointing. It feels like justice slipped through the cracks, alongside the...

ABQ Journal Editorial: To catch criminals, trapping ban needs real follow-through

Nov 24, 2021 | Dog, Editorial, Illegal Trapping, Legislation, NM Department of Game and Fish, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Victim Story, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands

Beginning in April, it will be illegal to use traps, snares and wildlife poison on public lands in New Mexico. That’s one positive outcome from the tragic death of an Española dog name Roxy — but it’s hard to be optimistic about the new law’s ability to be effective....

Tradition is no excuse for abuse

Nov 21, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Dog, Extreme Animal Cruelty, Illegal Trapping, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Victim Story, Trapping Banned on New Mexico Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife

Traps and snares are lethal devices that pose a real threat to people, pets and wildlife on public lands. That fact was made tragically clear when a dog named Roxy was strangled to death in a snare at a popular New Mexico recreation area in 2018. Senate Bill 32,...

Man whose trapping inspired ‘Roxy’s Law’ found not guilty on all counts

Nov 14, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Abuse, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Banned Fur Trapping, Bobcat, Dog, Illegal Trapping, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trapping on Public Lands, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

A Chimayó man accused of setting a snare trap that caused the death of a dog named Roxy, which sparked a law outlawing trapping on public lands, has been found not guilty on all charges related to the 2018 incident. “It’s a sense of relief, obviously,” Marty Cordova...

Trapper acquitted in case that inspired anti-trapping law

Nov 13, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Abuse, Ban Traps on Public Lands, BLM Land, Cruelty, Dog, Extreme Animal Cruelty, Illegal Trapping, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap Victim Story

Chimayó trapper Marty Cordova was acquitted by a jury this week of 10 counts of illegal trapping, three years after state officials alleged that he set a snare that strangled a dog near Española, his attorney said Thursday. The death of the dog, named Roxy, attracted...

New Mexico’s last trapping season on public lands

Oct 27, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Legislation, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping on Public Lands

Dear TrapFree New Mexico Friend, This Monday, November 1st marks the start of New Mexico’s last trapping season on public lands. Thanks in large part to all that you did, Roxy’s Law will take effect on April 1st 2022 and effectively end the use of traps, snares, and...

Ann Arbor’s ban on fur sales is part of a larger fight to save wildlife

Aug 18, 2021 | Banned Fur Sales, COVID-19, Cruelty, Extreme Animal Cruelty

The Ann Arbor, Michigan fur sale ban passed less than a year after an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in mink on a Michigan fur farm and the infection of a Michigan taxidermist with a COVID-19 variant found in mink. As it turns out, fur...

‘This is yesterday’s business.’ Fur sales ban gets Ann Arbor’s 10-0 final OK

Aug 18, 2021 | Banned Fur Sales, Cruelty, Extreme Animal Cruelty

ANN ARBOR, MI — The future is fur-free, animal rights activists told Ann Arbor officials Monday night, Aug. 16. City Council responded by voting 10-0 to give the final OK to a new ordinance banning sales of fur products in the city. “This is yesterday’s business,”...

Neiman Marcus Group will ditch fur

Jul 17, 2021 | Fur Free Fashion

The Neiman Marcus Group, which includes retailers Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call and Horchow, has just announced it will end its use of animal fur in favor of more ethical alternatives. The luxury retailer will end its use of animal fur, and will close all...

Israel becomes first country in the world to introduce “historic” ban on fur sales

Jun 11, 2021 | Banned Fur Sales, Cruelty, Fur Free Fashion

Israel has become the first country in the world to ban the sale of fur for frivolous fashion, effective 6 months from now, with a few exceptions. Humane Society International/UK, which leads the #FurFreeBritain campaign for a UK fur sales ban, hopes Israel’s ban will...

Estonia Becomes 14th European Nation to Ban Fur Farming

Jun 11, 2021 | Abuse, Ban Fur Farms, Cruelty

Estonia just became the first Baltic state to ban fur farming. The Riigikogu (Estonia’s parliament) passed amendments to the existing Animal Protection Act and Nature Conservation Act on Wednesday. The act will now prohibit the breeding and keeping of animals solely...

Estonia Joins 14 Other European Countries in Banning Fur Farming

Jun 11, 2021 | Ban Fur Farms

Estonia just announced that it will ban fur farming in its entirety, marking history as the first Baltic country to abandon fur. This week, The Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, voted on the bill to ban fur farming in the country and 55 out of 101 members voted in...

Trap Incident Report: Farmington, NM

Apr 14, 2021 | Trap/Snare Incident Report

We have walked this area for fifteen years. There are expensive homes nearby and it is becoming very popular. A new trail was created last summer. A female husky named Twilight was caught in a trap placed underneath a tree and baited with a cat carcass and dead bird....

Signing Roxy’s Law moves New Mexico forward

Apr 6, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

MY VIEW BY CHRIS SMITH Thinking about some other Western states’ version of so-called “leadership,” I am grateful for what we have here in New Mexico. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is infamous for assaulting a journalist, attempting to undermine democracy and violating...

Lujan Grisham signs trapping ban, education package

Apr 6, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

BY DAN MCKAY / JOURNAL STAFF WRITER SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham began a critical week Monday by signing legislation that will deliver extra money to some schools and ban animal trapping on public land – a burst of action as she faces a Friday deadline to...

Governor Lujan Grisham signs bill banning traps, snares, and poisons on New Mexico public lands

Apr 5, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Press Release, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

For Immediate Release April 5, 2021 Contact: Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, New law represents a monumental victory for native wildlife and public lands SANTA FE—Today, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed...

Roxy’s Law Victory!! 🐕

Apr 5, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

We have just learned that Governor Lujan Grisham has signed SB 32 into law! Dear TrapFree New Mexico Friend, With great pleasure, we have learned that Governor Lujan Grisham has signed SB 32 into law. Thank you all for your tireless advocacy through the years. You...

Farming is possible without killing coyotes

Mar 29, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Coyote, Deer, Lethal control, Natural rodent control, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

BY MICHELLE LUTE, PhD As a scientist advocating for evidence-based decision-making, I’m doing everything I can to promote Roxy’s Law, Senate Bill 32, to ban public lands trapping, snaring and poisoning in New Mexico. In my testimony and prior opinion pieces, I address...

Guest Column: Urge the governor to sign ‘Roxy’s Law’

Mar 29, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Extreme Animal Cruelty, North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law), Wildlife, Wildlife Ethics, Wildlife Management

BY CHARLES FOX The governor of Montana recently made news by sadistically – and illegally – trapping and killing a wolf as that state gears up to slaughter more of its native wildlife. Despite protests from numerous professional wildlife managers, the Montana...

Guest Column: Ending traps on public land starts NM’s outdoor future

Mar 28, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Guest Column, Legislation, Office of Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

BY SEN. ROBERTO GONZALES, / TAOS DEMOCRAT SEN. BRENDA MCKENNA, / CORRALES DEMOCRAT REP. MATTHEW MCQUEEN / GALISTEO DEMOCRAT AND REP. CHRISTINE CHANDLER / LOS ALAMOS DEMOCRAT New Mexico’s public lands are a treasure trove of opportunity for our state. They are...

Santa Fe New Mexican: The laws are passed — now it’s time for the governor to act

Mar 25, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

Senate Bill 32, better known as Roxy’s Law and formally as the Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act, which would ban trapping on public lands. This is one of the perennial bills that finally made it to the governor’s desk this session. It was close, too. After...

Roxy’s Law still needs the Governor’s signature! – CONTACT GOVERNOR MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM NOW!

Mar 24, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

Dear TrapFree New Mexico Friend, If you haven’t heard, Roxy's Law (SB 32) passed the House of Representatives last week and is headed to Governor Lujan Grisham's desk! The vote was very tight and every step of the way has been incredibly dramatic. That the bill has...

Senate Bill 32 AKA “ROXY’S LAW” Passes the NM House

Mar 19, 2021 | 2021 Legislative Session, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Endangered Species, Mexican wolf, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Senate Bill 32 (Roxy's Law)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 19, 2021 Contacts: Jessica Johnson, Animal Protection Voters, 505-220-6656, Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, MILESTONE MOMENT FOR NEW MEXICO’S ANIMALS SANTA FE, N.M.—Last night,...

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How to release your dog from a leg-hold trap

Trap Victim Stories

New Mexico Residents Tell Their Stories of Encountering Traps on Public Lands

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People's Forum Panel Report on Public Lands Trapping

The New Mexico Legislature should ban trapping on public lands in New Mexico because traps harm people, animal companions, and whole populations of wildlife including rare species. Most New Mexican voters believe that trapping is cruel and unnecessary.

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