’Tis the season for those involved in the business of selling animal fur to entice holiday shoppers into purchasing their products of cruelty. While great progress has been made to end the sale of fur — almost all major fashion brands have phased out its use, including Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and Nordstrom — those who torture and kill animals for their pelts can still find buyers in less progressive parts of the world.
New Hampshire trappers take advantage of these markets and continue to trap, torture, and kill NH animals to earn a few bucks. Sometimes they don’t even make a profit but trap and kill anyhow for recreation. Fewer than 500 trappers in New Hampshire are allowed to kill as many foxes, opossums, raccoons, skunks, beavers, muskrats, minks, weasels, and coyotes as they can get their traps on. (Trapping fishers and otters is also allowed, but with limits.) Each of these animals plays an important role in a balanced ecosystem, including keeping mice populations in check.
Even though many of the predator numbers in New Hampshire are in decline, and experts point to limitless trapping as one of the reasons, NH Fish and Game refuses to impose limits on the numbers of these animals that can be trapped. This holiday season, you can help prevent animal suffering and the disappearance of creatures from our fields and forests by never buying fur, educating friends and family, and joining with other compassionate citizens who speak out against trapping.
Linda Dionne
Raymond