A movement to ban leghold traps on the Sunshine Coast is quickly gaining momentum.
On Monday night, a public meeting was held in Davis Bay to address the issue of a ban on traps. Trapping has become a hot button topic locally after Sechelt resident Vicki Starfire's dog Sammie got caught in a leghold trap while they were walking at the top of Mason Road in early April.
Starfire organized the May 16 meeting, along with members of the Concerned Citizens of the Sunshine Coast, a group she and other community members formed after Sammie's incident to address growing concern over traps and safety issues.
"The most common comment I received was 'I thought these traps were banned a long time ago.' Unfor-tunately, they were not," she said.
After telling the story of Sammie and the trap incident, Starfire explained she and her group not only find traps extremely cruel, but also see them as a safety issue, possibly affecting anyone, from locals to tourists, who may be in the woods.
Starfire also told the crowd the meeting was just the beginning of the campaign she and her group are embarking on.
Trapping, meanwhile, is legal and still currently used to deal with nuisance wildlife. The trap that injured Sammie was set to catch a wolf, placed lawfully by a permit-holding individual.
Lesley Fox, executive director for the Vancouver based non-profit Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals, also spoke at the meeting.
Fox said about a million fur-bearing animals are killed in traps each year nationally, according to Statistics Canada, and that number does not include animals that are non-target, such as pets or animals designated as nuisances.
With a leghold trap displayed on a table before her, Fox showed the crowd how the trap works by placing a roll of cardboard inside. There were gasps from the crowd when the trap's sides clamped together, holding the paper roll firmly in place. Also on display were two other types of traps used to catch animals, all of which elicited further dismay from the crowd.
"The message I want to communicate to you is that the leghold trap is legal. This is still a really big issue for everybody and anybody who's interested in the outdoors- -various groups enjoying recreational activities to avid dog walkers," said Fox.
The next steps for the group, with Fox's support, include making the rounds at local government meetings, asking councils to consider implementing bylaws to ban traps, making the Sunshine Coast a leader on the issue. Those presentations took place this week at both Sechelt and Gibsons councils.
"Where Gibsons, Sechelt and the Regional District have an opportunity is they could be the first in Canada, and certainly B.C., to pass a bylaw that would ban all three traps. That would be key. It would be something done to protect citizens and to protect wildlife. It's time to re-evaluate our priorities," Fox said. "We're in for a good talk."
