Now available on the web are a new series of instructional videos showing trappers how to avoid accidental catches of non-target species, and what to do if they occur.
Trapping associations take this matter very seriously, for a few important reasons. Among these, catching the wrong species can be wasteful, or could interfere with conservation efforts. It also poses an existential threat to the future of trapping: when a pet dog is accidentally caught, anti-trapping campaigners use this as ammunition to call for an end to all trapping.
SEE ALSO: When pet dogs are accidentally trapped, why are media reports so unbalanced? Truth About Fur.
Eight original videos have been produced in French by the Fédération des Trappeurs Gestionnaires du Québec (FTGQ), with the Fur Institute of Canada (FIC) then dubbing on English translations. The websites of both organisations are showing the French versions, while FIC is also showing the English versions. The role of host in all the videos is played by trapping instructor and FTGQ managing director Gaétan Fournier.
The videos cover strategies for avoiding accidental catches in restraining traps, killing traps and snares. They also cover a range of animals, including semi-aquatic furbearers (muskrat, otter and mink), birds of prey, cervids (moose, deer, elk and caribou), and domestic animals (mainly pet dogs).
No fewer than three of the videos focus on pet dogs, including one that deals exclusively with what dog-walkers and trappers should do if a dog is accidentally caught.
“No trapper wants to catch a pet dog,” explains Pierre Canac-Marquis, Coordinator of the Canadian Trap Research and Certification Program, who collaborated on the project along with fellow FIC member Ryan Sealy, a trapping instructor in Yukon. “Indeed, most of us have dogs of our own, so we understand the grief a family goes through when they lose their pet.”
“But the reality is that on those rare occasions that a dog is accidentally caught in a trap, anti-trapping campaigners seize the opportunity to present all trapping in a bad light.”
“For this reason in particular, trappers must strive to eliminate accidental catches of dogs. The future of trapping, with all the benefits it brings for conservation and communities, could depend on it.”
SEE ALSO: Reasons we trap. Truth About Fur.
