“Believe it or not, the federal government is responsible for unintentionally killing over 1,000 dogs in the last 12 years,” reported Inside Edition’s Lisa Guerrero on a segment that aired Wednesday on pets killed by traps set in public areas.
Indeed, this is happening all over the country – thousands of these traps have been set on both private and public lands, unintentionally killing family pets and other non-target animals like bald eagles.
That’s the problem with traps – they are indiscriminate. The fact that a pet dog could be killed by one of these while on a leash in a public park, as described in this segment, simply underscores this fact.
Not only are they unselective – they’re inhumane, as shown by Predator Defense’s Brooks Fahy, who demonstrates how the traps work with a stuffed animal.
Add this to the long list of reasons why the federal government must reform its Wildlife Services program and start focusing more on non-lethal techniques for predator management. The fatal predator control methods, including traps, poisoning, and aerial gunning, simply present too many risks to ourselves, to our environment, to other species, and, as this segment explains, to our beloved pets.
Stay tuned for an extended version of this segment, which is expected to air this weekend. And visit http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/wild-things/ to take action and see upcoming screenings of NRDC’s new film on this subject – Wild Things!
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