Traps are wrong

Re: "Beaver trapping back on the agenda in PoCo," Wednesday,

February 2, 2006

The beaver is our national animal, and is proudly displayed on our city's coat of arms.

You would think such a distinguished animal would be treated with respect and compassion, but year after year the mayor and council sentence them to a watery death in the slow-killing Conibear trap.

Spending our tax dollars to hire trappers makes as much sense as putting new windshield wipers on a broken windshield.

The problem is covered up, but it never really goes away.

Each year, the city gives away our tax dollars to a trapper, and every year he takes the money, does some killing and comes back the next year to collect some more.

He'll never eliminate the problem because that would end his stream of income, and the city is always willing to hand him some money.

Council has been made aware of my concerns, and up until a few days ago, the City website actually said, "the process of trapping and killing beavers is not as humane as we'd like."

They don't like it, but they won't change it.

I requested the mayor and council watch unedited footage of a beaver as she slowly drowns in a Conibear trap.

They needed to see her baby kits swim frantically about and use their tiny paws to claw at the trap in a desperate attempt to free their mother from the crushing steel. They needed to watch the bubbles flow from her mouth as her lungs filled with water. I wanted them to see the consequences of their cruelty.

They flat out declined.

Mike Rogozinski
Port Coquitlam