The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission next week will consider proposed rules for hunting and trapping "furbearing" wildlife, including bobcats, coyotes, foxes, river otters and beavers. The proposed rules are largely a renewal of existing rules, this time for 2022-24, but they provide a chance to tell the commission, which oversees management of wildlife in Oregon, how you feel about hunting and trapping animals for fur and how often trappers should have to check their traps.
Your comments don't need to be more than a few sentences - just tell the commission you oppose trapping of wildlife in Oregon becauses it causes too much pain and suffering for the animals, or that the commission should at least require trappers to check their traps every 24 hours. (The proposed rules would allow trap-check times ranging from 48 hours to a week for restraining traps, depending on the animals involved, and up to 14 days for traps intended to kill the animals quickly.)
Email your comments to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission at odfw.commission@odfw.oregon.gov. The commission will consider the proposed rules June 17, so comments should be submitted no later than Monday, June 13, to have a good chance of being seeing by the commissioners.
It's best if you use your own words, but other general points you could make are:
Oregon's wildlife should not be killed just for fur and recreation.
Trapping is a particularly cruel way to kill wildlife because it forces animals to suffer for long periods of time with injuries from the traps and without food or water.
Trappers should at least be required to check their traps every 24 hours to limit animal suffering.
Hunting and chasing wildlife with dogs for sport (another topic of the proposed rules) is cruel.
Beavers should be better protected from hunting and trapping for their fur both for their own sake and because they build dams that improve Oregon's watersheds for other fish and wildlife.
For more information on the proposed rules and how to get involved, go here and scroll down to "Exhibit I." See the written comments we submitted here.
Thank you for helping us advocate for animals!