Trapping season is upon the animals in the Yukon, as supported by government. Leghold traps, snares and body-crushing Conibear kill traps, the cruel tools of the fur industry, are used to destroy the lives of animals for their fur.
These traps are not selective. They can and do pose a threat to many animals, including non-target animals such as eagles, ravens, deer, moose, family companion animals, and so forth. We have at least one example of a dog caught in a snare set by Yukon conservation officers – yet this remains hush, hush.
Gordon Klassen, the president of Alberta’s trappers’ association, was in Yukon recently teaching wanna-be wolf killers – pardon me, wolf “harvesters” – how to trap and kill many wolves.
Mr. Klassen was quoted saying, “You can catch a pack of wolves,” but he was also quoted as saying, “It can only be done if it’s done humanely, ethically and sustainably.” Mr. Klassen: there is no ethical, humane trapping. Traps are, by their very nature, cruel and inhumane.
It doesn’t surprise me that according to the article, two conservation officers attended this cruel session. And they say they don’t like to kill? Really?
Mr. Klassen … enough, already, using barbaric, cruel and inhumane methods destroying the lives of animals that deserve to have their own lives to themselves. Check your calendar. This is not 1812, and we should have evolved by now.
The fur belongs to its rightful owners – the wildlife.
Please boycott fur products. Thank you!
- Mike Grieco, Whitehorse, Yukon