BILL: Just say no to trapping

I am writing to voice my strong opposition to HJR-2, a constitutional amendment the Idaho Legislature is putting on the ballot this November, guaranteeing the rights of Idahoans to hunt, fish and trap. I hope many more Idahoans will join me in opposing HJR-2. While most are for the right to hunt and fish, trapping should not be a part of this amendment! It begs the question whether hunting, fishing and trapping were grouped together in this amendment so trapping would have a good chance of passing the ballot?

Catching and killing wild animals with torture instruments, aka steel traps/leghold traps and snares is a barbaric, outdated method that has no place in a modern, civilized society! I have read about wild animals caught in steel traps for days on end, and out of desperation and pain, tried to chew off their own leg in an attempt to free themselves. Inevitably and tragically, these same traps will catch and kill someone’s beloved dog unfortunate enough to wander off into the brush just to be fatally caught in a steel trap reserved for a wolf, fox or any other wild four-legged animal roaming the forests of Idaho. Please go to iatvoteno.org to see for yourself what can happen to your best friend — unless and until these devices are removed from the face of the Earth. What does it take to get leghold traps banned in Idaho and the remaining states that allow trapping?

I urge you to vote against this amendment in November. It is the right thing to do! Please don’t wait — get involved by getting informed. Log on to iatvoteno.org (Idahoans Against Trapping) and vote NO on HJR2.

ELKE A. HELMUTH

Coeur d’Alene