Activists Call for End to Conibear Trapping

It was fitting and proper, State Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, R-Manchester, surmised, to be at the Statehouse on a misty, dark, and dreary afternoon, holding candles in honor of a dog that lost his life due to a trap. 

Andrew was a 4-year-old mixed breed that died on Dec. 5, 2012, in Auburn, after getting caught in a conibear trap. And now, pet lovers, animal rights activists, and others are hoping to raise attention and concern to those who die from the traps.

Vaillancourt, who has unsuccessfully pushed for a trap ban in the past, is taking up the cause again, with a new bill that will be considered in the next legislative session. He said it was time to ban the traps that were responsible for killing thousands of animals in torturous ways.

“You can just imagine the horror for these animals,” he said, “who are trapped … not killed, trapped … and must spend hours, if not days, in these kinds of conditions, suffering.”

Historically, many Americans needed animal pelts to make coats to keep warm or to sell or trade, he said. But today, Vaillancourt said, it was unnecessary to kill "furry creatures ... with feelings" just to provide "some expensive coat for some lady or man in high society."

Not unlike gender right, civil rights, and gay rights, the time had come “to ban these hideous traps, once and for all,” and allow animals to live with “a modicum of dignity and protection,” Vaillancourt stated.

NH Citizens Against Trapping organizers passed out information packets for about 30 attendees, some with their dogs, and urged people to get in touch with the representatives to get the bill approved.