NEW YORK ACTION ALERT

Thanks to your letters to the Governor's office, the Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing regulations to ban traps within 100 feet of paths in recreational areas. This is an improvement over the current law which actually allows traps to be placed on paths, but much work remains to be done.

As you may remember, Tony and Meg Massaro's beloved dog, Valentine, died brutally before their eyes in a body-gripping trap during a morning jog in a public park. This was a horrifying "welcome" to a family that had just moved to New York State.

Please write to:

Governor George Pataki
c/o James McGuire
Executive Chamber
State Capitol
Albany, N.Y. 12224

Send a copy to:

Commissioner John Cahill
Department of Environmental Conservation
50 Wolf Road
Albany, N.Y. 12233

You may wish to make the following points in your letter to the Governor:

• THANK him for his help with the proposed DEC regulations on trapping.

• Explain that this is a step in the right direction but that 100 feet is not enough to guarantee safety for family pets and children. Strongly request that TRAPS BE BANNED FROM ALL AREAS OF PARKS AND RECREATIONAL AREAS including waterways where people and pets swim and wade. Our parks should not be littered with dangerous traps as Bosnia is littered with landmines. Participating in a family picnic should not be a Russian Roulette experience in death or injury.

• "Watch Where You Walk" regulations allow trappers the freedom of an entire park but they place families in jeopardy since only the trappers know where the traps are located.

• Explain that traps are not an answer to "nuisance" animals, population levels, or diseases. Perceived nuisance problems can usually be alleviated by non-lethal methods such as placing air-tight lids on dumpsters and trash cans. Population and disease levels are cyclical, and problems can actually be made worse by trapping.

| Return to Home Page |