Years ago, Deerfield resident Petra Gazzola would find herself stuck inside her secluded home in the Pawtuckaway Mountains because her property had been inundated with six feet of water from beavers damming up nearby culverts.
That's why Gazzola, a vegetarian who runs a shelter for stray dogs taken from Mississippi "kill shelters," is thankful for local trapper Fred Shepard.
"I don't believe in wantonly just killing animals," said Gazzola, who said she would never wear fur or raise animals in cages. "But there are times when you just have to be practical."
It's cases like Gazzola's that animal rights advocates say caused them to rethink their approach to anti-trapping legislation and that led to a bill introduced by Rep. Steve Vaillancourt last month.
In 2007, Vaillancourt brought forward legislation to ban certain types of commonly used animal traps, including a leg-hold trap he said has been banned in 88 countries and eight states, including
Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
That bill failed in a 241-118 House vote. This time, with co-sponsors Rep. Peter Schmidt and Rep. Peter Leishman, the Manchester Republican has altered his approach slightly - instead of banning trapping altogether, he's attacking its commercial incentives by trying to make illegal the sale of fur.
"I don't make any bones about it," Vaillancourt said. "This is an attempt to ban trapping except when absolutely necessary."
Vaillancourt's position has attracted the support of local animal rights groups, which hosted a luncheon in support of the new legislation as the Coalition to End Fur Trapping. They stressed they were not trying to ban trapping, just the sale of fur.
"These devices are archaic," said luncheon attendee Joanne Bourbeau, the U.S. Humane Society's senior state director for New Hampshire and Vermont. "They torture animals who can't get away from them."
Down market
Vaillancourt's latest bill has drawn strong opposition from cash-strapped trappers, state officials concerned about a spike in wildlife populations and gun owners who see the legislation as an affront to a New Hampshire way of life.
Shepard, the full-time trapper who oversees Gazzola's property and the New Hampshire Trappers Association's liaison with the state Fish and Game Department, said times are already tough with the fur market down. These days, he averages about $10 per adult beaver and makes the majority of his money from clients who want him to catch nuisances, he said.
"It used to be a dollar an inch," Shepard said.
Advocates of the bill point to the diminished profitability of fur as evidence that banning its sale would not significantly threaten trappers' bottom lines.
"It's not a big moneymaker anymore," said Linda Dionne, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League.
But Shepard said he believes the market will turn around eventually. And Dan Dockham, a trapper who owns a farm in Gilmanton, said now isn't the time to take away even a supplemental source of income for some New Hampshire residents.
"I don't know why in this bad economy they would want to do stuff like that," he said.
Last year, Shepard said the hobby trappers who take a fortnight's vacation when trapping season starts in November were noticeably absent because of low fur prices - a trend that would continue if fur selling were wiped out entirely.
"They want to make some money in those two weeks," he said.
Under the proposed legislation, Gazzola said she doesn't see the point of Shepard being forced to discard the animals he kills on her property.
"Why not sell the pelt and use the whole animal?" she said.
Dionne said banning the sale of fur would eliminate the need for trappers to kill what they've caught, and potentially encourage the use of traps that would cause less damage to the animals and allow them to be relocated. (next page »)
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) -- A New Hampshire judge has cleared…
OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) -- A New Hampshire jury has found…
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. John Lynch is…
Pressure mounts against Quran burning has reached 25 comments. Join the discussion!
Comments
"The roots of trapping"
By SunChaser - 02/12/2010 - 10:53 amBecause our ancestors did it / supported it / made a living at it... THIS is a reason anything immoral, inhumane, or historical should continue?
Do we need a list of what our ancestors USED to do that our hence more civilized society has left behind, whether due to economical, philosophical, humanitarian reasons?
Shall we bring back the "old ways", simply for posterity? Slavery, bigamy, how about the Guillotine? That worked well.
Gazzola - educate yourself on the master natural engineers that beavers are and how they alone create healthier waterways. They aren't trying to piss you off, and we all know that creek is FAR from your home or any structure that would be damaged by minimal flooding. Set aside your ideal of what nature should be. Read On Lily Pond, then make educated decisions and actions.
The veterinarian brought up a critical point that just never seems to be heard
to vote
What statute says to check-a-trap every day? (within 24 hrs.?)
By JosephSHaas - 02/12/2010 - 2:57 pmHow do you know this?
re: "Most Trappers, despite laws, do NOT check their traps every day."
to vote
Non-target animals
By docvet - 02/10/2010 - 5:45 pmAs a veterinarian, I have been called upon to treat numerous non-target animals that have been caught in traps set for beaver and other wildlife. Typically these animals are dogs who just happened to be splashing about in the a river or pond and often are brought to my clinic with the trap still on the animal's leg. Most recently we had a cat presented with all the skin stripped off the lower half of his front leg. It is rare that I can salvage a leg once it has been mangled by a trap. I have also had ducks, geese and other waterfowl presented with leg injuries requiring amputation and even a large turtle with a shell that had been broken by the force of a trap.
While I personally think there are humane alternatives to killing beavers and that their lives should not be considered to be valueless, I certainly think that trapping should NEVER be the solution due to the indiscriminate nature of the device.
I support this bill. My patients and I urge our legislators to step up and say "no more" to this random and archaic killing machine.
to vote
I love animals
By wayneinnh - 02/10/2010 - 4:15 pmRight next to the potatoes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
01.20.13 - Hope for Change
The truth is hate to those who hate the truth.
to vote
There is no God given right to kill living beings.
By mbuist - 02/10/2010 - 3:31 pm"Thou shalt not kill"......How about them apples?
Humans are overpopulated not animals. We are the problem and need to take responsibility for the trees, water sources, and land we have destroyed. Not to mention the millions of animals we carelessly destroy and torture every year and justify it by some outdated thinking about "survival" or some other horse manure. Not sure if anyone has ever heard of it ,but there is a plethra of food out there to survive off of that an animal doesn't have to be killed for. Check your local grocer.
You can go back and forth all day long on what animals to trap or hunt or whatever....but none of those perceived "problems" would exist if we weren't overpopulated on this planet.
Problem solving starts at home....lets correct all the human errors and make it right. No animal should have to die because of our ignorance. If you choose to live amongst nature then you will have to learn to live with animals not kill them.
to vote
Right on!
By lward - 02/11/2010 - 9:59 pmRight on!
to vote
At least get your Biblical references right
By wayneinnh - 02/10/2010 - 4:17 pmProper translation:
"Thou Shalt not Murder."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
01.20.13 - Hope for Change
The truth is hate to those who hate the truth.
to vote
http://www.animalliberationfr
By Laura Beth - 02/10/2010 - 1:35 pmhttp://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/Fishing--Hunting/Fur--Tra...
Let children decide after watching the truth in video! It's a disgusting trade based on a more disgusting ideology that is long overdue to be stopped. As human beings, we are obligated to work to make the world MORE, not less humane. Perhaps the trappers would spend a night in the sub zero weather, no food, water, injured, to then have some bully strip their skin off. It's a perversion of humanity, the lowest and most dark behavior, regardless of its entrenched roots.
It's time to MOVE ON! ALL OVER THE WORLD people are working to end the human tyranny over those MOST incapable of defending themselves.....BULLIES!!!! That's ALL you are, for a few bucks. Prostitutes of nature for money. YUCK! Cheers to Israel for recently BANNING the import/export of fur. Every religion has a mandate to treat animals with mercy.
www.GodsCreaturesMinistry.org
www.Catholic-Concern.org
www.all-creatures.org
www.Christianveg.com
www.Jewishveg.com
It's mind boggling that a reasoned human being could accept that fur on animals is a human commodity in 2010.. Just goes to show how long it takes for humans to grow from the religious, spiritual, intellectual retardation we are trapped in.....
From author and Holocaust Survivor Isaac Beshevis Singer, "Auschwitz lives whenever anyone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks, they're only animals."
to vote
Just another example.....
By Bruce Trivellini - 02/10/2010 - 7:24 amof government trying to run a business that it knows nothing about!
obamaitis has reached NH. Isn't there an antibiotic to rid ourselves of this infection?
...."the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, & the fruits acquired by it." - Thomas Jefferson
to vote
My Dog LOVES BEAVER!
By Dave in Suncook - 02/09/2010 - 12:10 amI recently purchased several cans of organic all natural BEAVER DOG FOOD for my Beardog.Made from real good old fashioned BEAVER!
He loves it!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmWOOF!
to vote
What a lack of common sence, live and let live?
By Hoverfly - 02/08/2010 - 12:41 pmLet the libs have it their way, let the population of beavers and other animals go out of control, spared rabies among children who should halved been taught to leave wiled animals alone. Increase nuisance flooding, damage river fronts and dump large amounts of silt in to the river killing all the fish, damanging roads, damage to forests, from building dams. An Increase in our auto insurance do to the increased number of road kill or attempted avoidance. Let it be some kind of a great experiment in population control, see what happens when you have no control to maintain balance. Maybe then the libs will ban people moving in to NH!! Oh one other thing I will not pay taxes on spade and nurturing beavers, maybe the libs.
to vote
Why are ALL of us paying MORE for LESS than our ancestors!?
By JosephSHaas - 02/08/2010 - 11:50 amRe: (1) "Vaillancourt's latest bill has drawn strong opposition from cash-strapped trappers"
plus: (2) " And Dan Dockham, a trapper who owns a farm in Gilmanton, said now isn't the time to take away even a supplemental source of income for some New Hampshire residents.
"I don't know why in this bad economy they would want to do stuff like that," he said. "
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
See: http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Commodity.intro.html
"Another well know commodity money was the beaver pelt, which traded in Virginia as well as in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (New York) and to a lesser extent in New England. The Dutch originally valued a pelt at eight florin* but as pelts became more plentiful the value was lowered to six florin."
to compare with: " These days, he averages about $10 per adult beaver".
* "Florin (Italian coin) " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florin_%28Italian_coin%29 "The Italian florin was a coin struck from 1252 to 1523 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard. It had 54 grains of gold (3.5g)." = 3 1/2 grams*
* gram of gold = "Conversion : 1 gram = 0.0321507466 troy ounces" http://www.goldprice.org/gold-price-per-gram.html See also:
"How much is a gram of gold worth?" http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_is_a_gram_of_gold_worth " To find the value of a gram of gold, you must first find the spot price of gold (per troy ounce) in your country, then convert to grams. Thus, if the spot price of gold is 900 US dollars per troy ounce and there are about 31.10 grams in a troy ounce, then the math follows:
$900 x 1 ounce/31.10 grams = $28.94/gram "
______________________________________________________________
How many beaver pelts does the average trapper get per year? #____
Back then a beaver pelt of say an average worth of 7 florins (from 8 to 6), then at almost $30/gram, and with a florin = to 3.5 grams, that's $30 x 3.5 = $105 per florin x 7 = about $700 per pelt.
So the annual cost of $28.50/license = about 1/20th of a pelt of old. About 5%, re: $700 divided by $30.
Therefore in the olden days to have to trap less than 1/3rd of a beaver to have paid any license at the modern amount of almost $30, then WHY does it now take a tenfold increase!? "$10 per adult beaver" x 3 = the $30.00 license. Thus nine of these one third (1/3rd) amounts.
to vote
Four out-of-state trappers spent $_____ here?
By JosephSHaas - 02/08/2010 - 9:59 amRe: "Four people from other states paid a $301 fee to trap here".
How many other states? #_____ Which ones? ___________
And so how much did this "Boost Granite State Economy"?
reference: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Newsroom/News_2008/News_2008_Q3/National...
from: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/
to vote
You sir remind me of the
By Hillbilly - 02/08/2010 - 6:10 pmYou sir remind me of the person that has to think and try to make people think he is the smartest in the room. Sometimes good old Yankee sense takes care of a problem. You have posted all this about what a coin is worth, read my post concerning the coyote problems alone. That should answer your questions, as far as the value of the fur. It has fallen because of left wing wackos that spray paint one of the earths greatest natural resources when utilized by humans. So china became the biggest buyer of fur for the longest time until a couple of years ago. Both China and Russia stopped buying to drive the cost down. A otter was going for 125.00 two years ago now you are lucky to get 40.00. Now for the sales of licenses, anything we can get helps. Since hunters,fishermen and trappers all support one another with things bought and taxes from the pittman and roberts act. We have to dish out funding with no help from outside users that like our cartop boatramps to go and watch the loons that my dollar has helped study and protect. So every nickel counts.
to vote
You're welcome, even though you don't deserve half of it...
By JosephSHaas - 02/12/2010 - 12:53 am...I've rounded up to the next whole number for your benefit. (;-)
U-603, thank you for your reply with your telling us how lazy you are AND how unappreciative you are for the condensed version of HOW I found the answer.
I also thank you for the recent history of HOW the price has gone down of late.
Too bad your thought process stops at a certain time line. If there is anything I can do to help you expand your horizons, please let me know.
to vote
When you look up hypocrite in the dictionary
By Hunter Dan - 02/08/2010 - 9:51 amyou should see a pic of Petra Gazzola.
This is why the whacko animal rights crowd has lost all credibility. Sure they care about animals, until those animals start messing with them or their property.
H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E-S . . . all of 'em!
to vote
About $10,000/year pays xx% of F&G Officer's salary?
By JosephSHaas - 02/08/2010 - 9:41 amRe: "In 2008, 372 New Hampshire residents paid an annual $28.50 fee to trap in New Hampshire, licensing supervisor Sue Perry said, down from about 1,000 licensed trappers in 1987, according to Shepard. Four people from other states paid a $301 fee to trap here, Perry said."
According to Bob Washburn [ hunterscorner at aol dot com ] over at http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/concord-monitor/mi_8038/is_20070... for "Trap ban could pose problems; Similar rule in Mass. saw beavers take" of Mar 4, 2007 "The latest revenue numbers from Fish and Game suggest that license fees from trappers amounted to $9,309".
- - Joe
P.S. Here's what I liked reading in this article by Bob: "A friend commented on his neighbor who owned a substantial parcel of land that had not been timbered in decades. The land was sterile with little wildlife. They employed a professional forester who marked out which trees should be harvested and advised them that 18 months after the harvest, wildlife should return in record numbers - and it did."
to vote
Vaillancourt wouldn't know a libertarian from a librarian
By MHCWomyn - 02/08/2010 - 7:49 amI am still laughing over this quote ""I think this is perfectly in line with the libertarian philosophy of live and let live," he said.
Um, no. A libertarian would never introduce this piece of legislation, as it seeks to curtail the free market (bans the sale of fur) and seeks to tell trappers how they must trap. This bill is the *antithesis" of libertarian philosophy.
Republicans like him also need to go in November.
to vote
He is a Dem!!!!!!!
By Hillbilly - 02/08/2010 - 6:03 pmHe is a Dem!!!!!!!
to vote
Representative Steve Vaillancourt is a REPUBLICAN
By Bess - 02/08/2010 - 6:25 pmTaken from the NH General Court website.
Representative Steve Vaillancourt (r)
Hillsborough- District 15
Seat #:4089
Incumbent
In case you don't know, but the "r" after the name is short for REPUBLICAN!
He's playing the "libertarian card" to try to gain votes. It fools no one.
Republicans like him do need to go.
to vote
They forgot to mention the
By Hillbilly - 02/08/2010 - 6:19 amThey forgot to mention the problems that Mass. has had with coyotes now, and so has Rep. Valincourt. Understand before anyone writes in like these trappers are murders of innocent animals. The trappers are the coyotes largest predator, without the trapper local deer and turkey numbers would suffer worse than they already do. I am not saying there is no deer or turkeys, but there would be absoulutly an increase of winter kill and spring fawn kill. Coyotes have already had a large impact on our Grouse and Rabbits. Lets talk desease, Mange is a big deal and without the use of trappers as a tool mange and rabies could become an issue. Trapping is nessecery and alway will be in N.H.
to vote
1/4 Billon $ deficit and we get cider vs Milk and trapping
By sailmaker - 02/08/2010 - 5:36 am1/4 Billon $ deficit and we get cider vs Milk and trapping legislation.
These people simply are not serious
Time to vote for restoration to the better life vs the constant CHANGE
to vote
If that were to be the case,
By Honest Abe - 02/08/2010 - 5:46 amIf that were to be the case, then what would you and your ilk have to whine and rant about?
to vote