When somebody\u2019s dog gets caught in a leghold trap meant for a wild animal, the incident gets publicity.\u00a0\u00a0 Meanwhile, out of sight and unreported, wild animals are getting caught in those traps.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, in response to an alleged need that has not been demonstrated, New Mexico has a proposal to allow trapping of mountain lions, coming from our Game Commission. If this proposal is approved, Governor Martinez may someday find herself explaining on national TV why her state not only allows but has increased the scope of animal trapping.<\/p>\n
One of New Mexico\u2019s persistent problems is that we still have not succeeded in updating our public relations image. Much of the industrialized world still thinks New Mexico is a third world backwater. A great way to perpetuate that negative stereotype is to get a worldwide reputation for being cruel to animals.<\/p>\n
Last year the state earned a national black eye from coyote-hunting contests. It may be necessary for ranchers to shoot coyotes to keep them away from livestock, but there is something gruesome about making that into a game with prizes. A move to ban the contests did not pass in this year\u2019s legislature.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the same Game Commission has denied a permit, effectively ending a program to house caged wolves that had been in place for 17 years at Ted Turner\u2019s Ladder Ranch in the Gila mountains.\u00a0\u00a0 The program at the ranch was part of the wolf recovery program, which will be hurt by losing this resource.\u00a0\u00a0 As reported, there was no specific problem with the way the program at the ranch was being run \u2013 this Game Commission just doesn\u2019t like wolf recovery. But wolf recovery is national policy and it will happen with or without this facility. Is getting rid of a program for penned wolves the best way to reduce the wild wolf population?<\/p>\n
While Turner \u2013 the billionaire who created CNN — doesn\u2019t run it any more, this is likely to stir up more negative publicity.<\/p>\n
We can sympathize with ranchers who don\u2019t want their baby calves getting torn up by wild predators \u2013 and with the calves themselves. The question for ranchers \u2013 and for those who make policy \u2013 is how to protect domesticated animals while minimizing the suffering of the wild animals who threaten them.<\/p>\n
Our values concerning animals are a mass of contradictions. We treat our dogs and cats like family, and we even allow them to be euthanized painlessly when they\u2019re old and sick. We slaughter cows and chickens. We hope it\u2019s done humanely and occasionally expose a slaughterhouse scandal, but for the most part we don\u2019t inquire too closely how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n
We won\u2019t allow horses to be slaughtered, even though it could be done humanely. We\u2019d rather let them starve to death if their owners can\u2019t afford to take care of them, or if they are running wild on land that can\u2019t support them. I really don\u2019t get that.<\/p>\n
We allow wild pigs to be hunted indiscriminately because they are an invasive species. They carry disease and damage the environment. Okay, that appears to be necessary.<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t get trapping. Trapping may have been a survival necessity in the 19th<\/sup> century, or even part of the 20th<\/sup>, but it isn\u2019t any more. Wild animals are God\u2019s creatures just as much as domesticated ones, just as sentient, smart and capable of experiencing pain. If you have to shoot mountain lions, shoot them, accurately and efficiently, but don\u2019t impose the suffering caused by trapping.<\/p>\n And if the humane argument doesn\u2019t work, consider the economic one. Trapping makes New Mexico look bad, period.<\/p>\n The New Mexico Game Commission should consult with the Economic Development, the Tourism Department and the State Film Office before shooting itself in the foot \u2013 or \u2013 well, there are more apt analogies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When somebody\u2019s dog gets caught in a leghold trap meant for a wild animal, the incident gets publicity.\u00a0\u00a0 Meanwhile, out of sight and unreported, wild animals are getting caught in those traps. Suddenly, in response to an alleged need that … Continue reading