News & Updates

Trap Incident Report: Rowe Mesa – January 14, 2021

Jan 14, 2021 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Trap Victim Story, Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping on Public Lands

I was collecting dead and down wood for burning when my dog Nelli was caught by a spring trap. The same people who had set the trap were obviously doing illegal cutting of live wood and littering their bud lights everywhere. No serious injury to the dog luckily....

Injuries to New Mexico Wildlife Caught in Leghold Traps

Jan 13, 2021 | Bobcat, Broken Bones, Cat, Coyote, Cruelty, Dog, Fox, Groundhog, NM Department of Game and Fish, Opossum, Porcupine, Raccoon, Sheep, Showshoe Hare, Skunk, Squirrel, Trap Injuries, Trapping on Public Lands, Weasel, Wolf

Robert Harrison, Ph.D, University of New Mexico[1] December, 2020 Summary: Wildlife enthusiasts are well aware of the potential of leghold traps to severely injure wild animals. Less appreciated is how many wild animals suffer such injuries in the course of an...

Albuquerque Journal: It’s time to pass Roxy’s Law

Jan 11, 2021 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping on Public Lands

On Dec. 17, I was winding up my forest walk with my two dogs, Chaco and Cruzer, when, not 10 feet away, Cruzer began wailing and bellowing at the top of his lungs. I thought perhaps something had stung or bitten him, buy it took only seconds to comprehend that he was...

New report details the many problems of traps on public lands

Jan 11, 2021 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Economic Analysis, Fur Trade, NM Department of Game and Fish, Press Release, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trapping on Public Lands, Uncategorized, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

For Immediate Release January 11, 2021 Contacts: Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, The economics of trapping, the number of species killed by trappers, and environmental harms are among topics covered by report SANTA FE,...

Trap Incident Report: Lincoln National Forest near Cloudcroft, NM – January 7, 2021

Jan 7, 2021 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Trap Victim Story, Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping on Public Lands

While hiking with my dogs on a Forest Service road one of my dogs was caught by a leg hold trap which had no identifying information as required by NM Dept of Game & Fish. I cut the cable to the trap in order to get her away from that location and calm her down in...

Santa Fe New Mexican: Limit on legislation won’t leave out the late Roxy

Dec 30, 2020 | Illegal Trapping, Legislation, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Trapping on Public Lands

Roxy died a painful death at age 8. A blue heeler mix, she was strangled in a snare near a hiking trail at Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area. The state Game and Fish Department said a man from Chimayó set an illegal trap that took Roxy’s life. What happened to Roxy led...

New Mexico in Focus: Animal Trapping in New Mexico

Dec 19, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

New Mexico in Focus host Gene Grant discusses public lands trapping with NM state representative Christine Chandler, Jessica Johnson of Animal Protection of New Mexico, and Chris Smith of WildEarth Guardians.

Trap Incident Report: Pecos, NM – December 17, 2020

Dec 17, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Trap Victim Story, Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping on Public Lands

I have hiked this same area for the last 4 years. There are no trails, just cross-country. While returning from a hike yesterday our Heeler was sniffing around a tree like he does every trip, just enjoying dog life on public lands. I was no more than 10-15 feet away...

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

Dec 13, 2020 | Badger, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Beaver, Bobcat, Commercial Fur Sales, Coyote, Fox, NM Department of Game and Fish, Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Waste, Wildlife

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...

TrapFree New Mexico Update and Action

Dec 9, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Public Lands, Public Safety, Trap Injuries, Trapping on Public Lands

Dear TrapFree New Mexico Ally, 2020 has been a painful year. The beginning of trapping season here in New Mexico is following the same awful theme. Already, several high profile incidents in the news have proven, once again, that traps on public lands are a serious...

Albuquerque Journal Editorial: Nothing about traps is New Mexico True

Dec 7, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Coyote, Cruelty, Dog, Editorial, Endangered Species, Legislation, Mexican wolf, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Poisons, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Tourism Industry, Trap Injuries, Trapping Incidents Map, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

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...

Sierra County Sun: New Mexico: Land of Entrapment

Dec 5, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Cruelty, Dog, Endangered Species, Fur Trade, Letter to the Editor, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife

by Mary Katherine Ray | December 4, 2020 Many people are surprised to learn that fur trapping—the exploitative relic of the 1800s—still goes on today in our crowded, fragile world. Worse, the steel-jawed devices and wire neck-snares that trappers still use can be...

Trap Incident Report: BLM land near Bernardo, NM – December 2, 2020

Dec 2, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Trap Victim Story, Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping on Public Lands

I was hunting quail near a dirt tank and lost site of my German Shorthair. I heard her start screaming and about 250 yds. upstream of the dirt tank. She had stepped into a #2 off-set jaw trap. If this had been a #4 trap, she would have suffered severe injuries,...

Albuquerque Journal: Dogs caught in traps rekindle debate in NM

Nov 30, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Fur Trade, Hiker, National Forest, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Public Safety, Rescue, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping on Public Lands

SANTA FE – Terry Miller of White Rock was walking her two dogs through the Jemez National Recreation Area on Thanksgiving Day when she heard a sharp scream. She turned around to find her dog, Jessie, a 2-year-old Dutch shepherd, with one of her paws caught in a metal...

Las Cruces Sun-News: ‘Pretty gruesome:’ Skinned coyote carcasses piled in desert likely the work of trappers

Nov 29, 2020 | Abuse, Ban Traps on Public Lands, Commercial Fur Sales, Coyote, Cruelty, Fur Trade, Hiker, Public Lands, Trap Injuries, Trapping on Public Lands, Waste, Wildlife

LAS CRUCES – On Nov. 20, a man on his morning walk discovered multiple piles of dead and skinned coyotes off a main road near Santa Teresa. Kevin Bixby, executive director of the Southwest Environmental Center in Las Cruces, went to the site to check out the scene on...

Trap Incident Report: Jemez National Recreation Area – November 26, 2020

Nov 26, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Trap Victim Story, Trap/Snare Incident Report, Trapping on Public Lands

I was hiking with my dogs when Jessie (Dutch Shepherd) got caught in the trap. We were in the Jemez Recreation Area close to FR 376. There are no trailheads in this area, just well traveled 4×4 roads and trails. We were on one of my favorite trails from FR 376 that...

Outdoor recreationists encounter horrors during the first three weeks of the ‘20-‘21 trapping season

Nov 25, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Cruelty, Dog, Illegal Trapping, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Press Release, Public Lands, Public Safety, Rescue, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trapping on Public Lands

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 25, 2020 New Mexicans are warned of gruesome sights and danger while on public lands over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend—on the two-year anniversary of the death of “Roxy,” the dog who became the namesake for anti-trapping legislation...

Farmington Daily Times: Trapping season is underway and dog walkers should take precautions to protect pets

Nov 22, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping on Public Lands

AZTEC — It isn’t unusual for James Stackhouse’s husky, Ivy, to disappear for a couple minutes while they are out hiking. She’s never out of sight for long and, at first, he didn’t think much about her absence as they were hiking near Lake Farmington on Nov. 14....

New Mexico public lands at risk as trapping season begins

Nov 2, 2020 | Outdoor Recreation Industry, Press Release, Public Lands, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping Incidents Map, Trapping on Public Lands

For Immediate Release October 30, 2020 Contacts: Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, Jessica Johnson, Animal Protection Voters, 505-220-6656, Private, commercial traps will be hidden across BLM, Forest...

Nordstrom will stop selling fur and products made from exotic animal skin by the end of 2021

Sep 30, 2020 | Commercial Fur Sales

Nordstrom will no longer sell products made with fur or exotic animal skin by the end of 2021, it said on Tuesday. It is the first US-based retailer to ban exotic animal skins, according to the Humane Society. Nordstrom hasn’t used real fur or exotic skin in its...

TrapFree New Mexico Update and Request

Sep 17, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

Dear TrapFree Ally, Hopefully you are well in these difficult times! We are reaching out less than 2 months before New Mexico’s landscapes will once again be dotted with private, commercial traps waiting for unsuspecting paws, claws, and feet and an election that will...

Advocates see proposed cougar rules in New Mexico as good step

Sep 11, 2020 | Cougar, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Wildlife Management

Santa Fe New Mexican | Aug 9, 2019 Updated Aug 9, 2019 Wildlife advocates are cautiously optimistic about proposed rule changes by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish that could decrease the number of cougars legally killed in a season and would ban trapping...

Another Horrible Trap Incident Mutilates Dog

May 20, 2020 | Cruelty, Dog, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping is Torture

A dog name Joe encountered a leghold trap near Veguita, NM this spring. When Joe arrived at our vet on Friday he was ripped up from head to tail. Joe underwent three hours of emergency surgery to clean and sew up the bite wounds and sew bottom skin and...

Another Victim of Trapping Torture

Apr 15, 2020 | Cat, Illegal Trapping, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping is Torture

Despite heroic efforts by neighbors and veterinary care, a domestic cat found in Albuquerque with a trapped leg ultimately died of trap wounds. Read the full account. "I have rescued animals for most of my life and have been involved in some serious rescue...

When tourists or their dogs step into traps, you can kiss new outdoor recreation industry goodbye

Apr 15, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Dog, Illegal Trapping, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Office of Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Public Opinion, Public Safety, Roxy's Law, Tourism Industry, Trapping on Public Lands

By Sherry Robinson New Mexico wants the traveling public to think of the state as a destination for outdoor recreation. For those of us who hike, bike, fish, hunt, and golf, that seems pretty obvious. The tourism industry and economic developers are on board. However,...

New Mexico commission approves wildlife trapping changes

Jan 22, 2020 | Companion Animal, Dog, Mexican wolf, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Roxy's Law, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

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

Jan 22, 2020 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Waste, Wildlife

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

Jan 18, 2020 | Bobcat, Fox, Mexican wolf, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Opinion, Roxy's Law, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

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...

Massachusetts outlaws destructive wildlife killing contests

Jan 17, 2020 | Wildlife, Wildlife Killing Contests, Wildlife Management

Regulation abolishes competitive killing of wild animals for prizes and entertainment Boston, MA – A coalition of leading wildlife protection organizations is applauding MassWildlife staff and the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board for their vote today to ban...

Trapping is not wildlife management

Jan 16, 2020 | NM Department of Game and Fish, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

Trapping has been touted by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish staff as a “legitimate” and "valuable" wildlife management tool. However, the type and scope of trapping is never specified nor are the reasons stated for its necessity. There are no management plans...

MY VIEW: Trapping will damage tourism

Dec 23, 2019 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Companion Animal, Economic Analysis, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Public Lands, Public Safety, Trap Injuries, Trap Victim Story, Trapping Incidents Map, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

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...

NM game panel puts black bears at risk

Dec 23, 2019 | Bear, Cruelty, Lethal control, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

By Jan Hayes, Founder, Sandia Mountain Bear Watch The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has recently released its Final Adopted Bear Rule for the next five years, 2020-24, and the news is not good for New Mexico’s bears or for those of us who had hoped for some...

Don’t Trap, Photograph!

Dec 20, 2019 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Economic Analysis, Letter to the Editor, Outdoor Recreation Industry, Trapping on Public Lands, Wildlife

The potential of non-extractive/non–exploitive wildlife viewing and photography are already huge revenue streams in New Mexico. Shooting wildlife with cameras has far more sustainable financial potential than hunting or the egregious trapping—still legal in New...

Speak out to oppose trapping on public lands

Dec 16, 2019 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Mexican wolf, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Opinion, Public Safety, Trap Injuries, Trapping Incidents Map, Trapping is Torture, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

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...

Letter to the Editor: Statewide Traps

Dec 10, 2019 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Letter to the Editor, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Opinion, Public Safety, Trapping is Torture, Trapping on Public Lands, Waste, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

This letter was published in the Santa Fe New Mexican on December 10, 2019 New Mexico has a problem with traps on public lands. The ongoing destruction inflicted by hidden, baited, steel jaw traps is well-documented. Public lands users, companion animals and wildlife,...

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

Dec 10, 2019 | Ban Traps on Public Lands, Cruelty, Endangered Species, Illegal Trapping, Legislation, Mexican wolf, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM State Game Commission, Public Lands, Public Opinion, Public Safety, Trap Injuries, Trapping Incidents Map, Trapping is Torture, Trapping on Public Lands, Trapping Regulations, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wildlife Management

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...