News & Updates
Owner rushes to save dog caught in jaw trap near popular trail
By Chris Quintana / Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST – John Ussery and his 25-pound dog Cub were finishing a hike in the Cibola National Forest on Saturday when Ussery heard “terrible screaming.” Ussery and a friend rushed from the road and...
How to Release Your Dog from a Leg Hold Trap
Born Free USA Trapping Investigation: Victims of Vanity II
Five Years Later, Cruel Indifference Continues Over the course of the 2015-2016 trapping season, Born Free USA conducted a follow-up investigation to Victims of Vanity: our landmark investigation in 2011 that exposed the dark, brutal world of trapping. Since the...
Predator Control Should Not be a Shot in the Dark
Livestock owners traditionally use various non-lethal and lethal methods to protect their domestic animals from wild predators. However, many of these methods are implemented without first considering experimental evidence of their effectiveness in mitigating...
Research Review Finds that Weak Science has Bolstered the U.S. Government’s Predator-Control Practices
From their review of the prevailing research into lethal and non-lethal predator control practices in North America and Europe, an international trio of environmental scientists has determined that the science behind the reviewed research is not very scientific. In...
The Case for Mass Slaughter of Predators Just Got Weaker
A new study finds little evidence that lethal predator control does anything to help ranchers. A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment found that there's little scientific evidence that killing predators actually accomplishes the...
New Report Reveals US Lags Behind Other Countries in Restricting Use of Cruel Traps
Steel-jaw leghold traps, widely criticized for being indiscriminate and inhumane, are presently prohibited or significantly restricted in the majority of countries around the world-but not the United States. According to research released today by the Library of...
Animal Protection Groups Challenge Illegal Expansion of Cougar Trapping in New Mexico
Animal Protection of New Mexico, The Humane Society of the United States and New Mexico citizens announce appeal of the State Game Commission's cougar trapping rule In a joint effort to ensure responsible, science-based wildlife management practices and protect New...
Las Cruces Sun-News Editorial: More traps, snares in NM not the answer
First, Rep. Zachary Cook, R-Ruidoso, introduced legislation that would have allowed for the indiscriminate killing of cougars. It would have legalized the same kind of hunting contests we now have with coyotes - shoot as many as you can and then leave the carcasses...
Trap victim calls for removal of leg-hold traps on public lands
Z Jacobson was hiking with her dogs, Noodles and Lulu, and a friend along a new trail off Old Buckman Road in the Santa Fe National Forest on Thanksgiving Day. During the hike, they walked over to a cliff and were admiring the view when Jacobson heard what she...
Steel Jawed Killers Lie in Wait in Our Woods
There is a dangerous predator in the Jemez that you might not be aware of. It's quiet. It lies in wait for unsuspecting prey. It's virtually invisible, indiscriminate, and here year-round. It causes untold suffering and often a painful, prolonged death ... yet we...
America’s trapping boom relies on cruel and grisly tools
Across the United States, the resurgence of a frontier tradition - commercial fur trapping - is taking a hidden, often grisly toll on wildlife. The activity is legal. It is regulated by state agencies. And for the most part, it doesn't pose a threat to species'...
How to get your dog out of a trap
Animal News Hour with Kathleen McDonald
Kathleen McDonald tells her story about when her dog was trapped and she was injured in the Lincoln National Forest. It is impossible to think of the places we love in the same way when a hidden trap could be anywhere.
Dog’s Former Owner Arrested for Extreme Animal Cruelty
A dog found walking on exposed bone stumps of missing back legs is thought to be a victim of a bear trap. Watch the KOAT news segment here: http://www.koat.com/article/dogs-former-owner-arrested/4477482 For more information on Cub please visit NMDog.org
‘Miracle’ Dog Exposes America’s Shameful Use Of Leghold Traps
https://www.thedodo.com/miracle-dog-expose-trap-horror-1022299525.html Every year on public and private land throughout the country, thousands of animals suffer and die slow deaths after becoming ensnared in leghold traps, considered by some to be one of the cruelest...
David Forjan Recounts Bloody Trap Incident
David Forjan, the host of Animal News Hour, recounts his own heart-pounding story of having to rescue his dog Annie from a trap and how he was also horribly injured—a story that is all too common in New Mexico.
Let’s ban nasty practice of trapping
By New Mexico State Representative Roberto "Bobby" Gonzales, Taos In Taos County, we are uniquely blessed with the natural beauty of the surrounding mountains, national forest lands and the Rio Grande Gorge. As residents, we all personally benefit from the wide...
90% of People Want Trapping Banned, Report Says
Ninety percent of New Mexico residents believe trapping should be banned on public lands, according to a report released Wednesday by a panel of seven New Mexico citizens. The report was created through online surveys organized by the People’s Forum on Public Lands...
Time for Traps To Go
San Cristobal resident Maya Anthony ended up with more injuries than her dog Joker after the pet was caught in a leg-hold trap during a family outing in the Carson National Forest near Taos last month. Panicked by the pain and trauma of being caught in the trap, Joker...
Teen To Push for Trap Bans After Pet Dog Ensnared
SANTA FE, N.M. — A dog was caught in a wildlife trap during a family hike north of Taos on Feb. 26, not far from where a couple of dogs were caught in traps in late 2010. In the most recent case, one of the dog’s owners — 17-year-old Maya Anthony of San Cristobal —...
Trapped in the Past – The game commission must stop ignoring public concerns about trapping.
October 2011 New Mexicans are increasingly moving toward a consensus that foothold trapping of furbearer animals ought to be more closely regulated — if not mostly banned, as our neighbors in Arizona did in 1994. Unfortunately, at the same time the New Mexico State...
Activists Speaking Out Against Trapping
The founder of a Santa Fe animal sanctuary had three dogs each missing one leg. A woman from San Cristobal told of her dogs — and her fingers — being caught in animal traps. They were two of about 75 people from all over the state who traveled to Albuquerque on...
Conservationists To Host Forum on Trapping
Conservation groups have organized a forum to discuss furbearer trapping in New Mexico and a recent decision by state officials to end a trapping ban in the Mexican gray wolf recovery area. WildEarth Guardians, Animal Protection of New Mexico and the Sierra Club...
Debate Over Trapping on N.M. Public Lands Rages On
The debate over whether New Mexico should prohibit the trapping of bobcats, raccoons and other furbearing animals on public lands is far from over. Conservation groups scheduled a forum Wednesday evening to talk about trapping and a recent decision by the state Game...
Tradition of Torment
These letters appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on September 13, 2011 THERE IS nothing “more humane” about the way trapping is done. Catching any and all animals that happen by a trap doesn’t help or take care of our wildlife. Animals left in traps for hours or days...
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