The Jaws of Death: How Steel-Jaw Traps Torture and Kill Animals | PETA (2024)
Every year, trappers kill millions of raccoons, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, opossums, beavers, otters, and other animals for their fur. To do so, they use various types of traps, including snares and Conibear traps, but the steel-jaw trap is the one that’s most widely used.
These devices are used by hunters and trappers to immobilize animals. The above clip shows just how quickly they snap shut. For an animal who steps into one, there’s little to no chance of escape.
When animals, like this coyote, step on the spring, the trap’s jaws slam shut, clamping onto a limb or paw. As they struggle in pain to get free, the steel vise cuts into their flesh—often down to the bone—mutilating the leg or paw.
Animals may struggle for hours or even days before the trapper returns to kill them—if they haven’t succumbed to exhaustion, exposure, blood loss, shock, or predation first.Some animals, especially mothers desperate to return to their young, will even attempt to chew or twist off their trapped limbs. When they can’t escape, their babies are left alone, unable to fend for themselves.
Because of the cruelty inherent in the use of steel-jaw traps, they’ve been banned in many countries. Their use is also banned or restricted in several U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington. The European Union has banned their use in Europe as well as the importation of pelts from countries that use them to trap and kill fur-bearing animals.
However, in parts of the U.S., these torturous devices are still legal. And because the harsh metal clamps don’t discriminate, they pose a threat to ALLspecies—including cats, dogs, birds, endangered animals, and even humans walking through the woods.
A large terrier mix was extremely lethargic, his breath shallow, and the pad of his trapped paw was bleeding and swollen to nearly twice its normal size.
A 6- to 7-month-old Australian shepherd mix had worn his teeth down in a vain attempt to chew his way out of the steel vise clamped to his paw. His mouth and nose were full of dirt, he was barely breathing, and he was unable to stand or walk.
As with the terrier mix, his foot was swollen to nearly twice its normal size.
The other young shepherd mix was the only survivor. Her teeth were severely worn down from chewing on the steel trap. Her front left leg was swollen below the elbow, and the skin was gangrenous and oozing with pus because of the lack of blood flow to her paw. Over the next few days, she chewed the dead tissue on her paw down to the bone, and the only way to save her was to amputate the diseased foot. Fortunately, the dog made a full recovery and was made available for adoption.
Though some steel-jaw traps are padded, they still leave animals immobile, exposed, and helpless.
Animals caught in these traps are terrified and in excruciating pain. They are forced to suffer just so that their head can be mounted on a wall and their fur can be made into a coat.
All animals killed for their fur suffer, whether they are wild-caught in traps or raised in a cage on a fur farm. In both cases, preserving the “quality” of the peltis the primaryconcern—not preventing the animal from suffering.
When you watch the cruel killing of one individual animal for fur in the video below, remember that it can take the skins of as many as 40 of them to make just one fur coat.
Animals who have struggled in vain to escape fromtraps (or languished on fur farms until they were slaughtered) are no different from the cats and dogs who share our homes. They have feelings and unique personalities, and they value their lives.
You can help stop animals from suffering for their fur!
Ask your local and state government officials to ban steel-jaw traps, and support legislation that limits or prohibits their use in your area.
Sign the pledge to stop wearing fur today.Then check out our handy How to Wear Vegan guide, and be sure to share this post with your friends, family, and followers.
For an animal who steps into one, there's little to no chance of escape. When animals, like this coyote, step on the spring, the trap's jaws slam shut, clamping onto a limb or paw. As they struggle in pain to get free, the steel vise cuts into their flesh—often down to the bone—mutilating the leg or paw.
If the animal is still alive when the trapper returns, he or she is usually killed by a blow to the head or suffocation induced by the trapper standing on the animal's chest. Trappers seldom kill animals by gunshot, as a bullet hole reduces a pelt's value.
The most humane way of dispatching or killing a trapped animal is to shoot it in the head with a small caliber firearm, such as a . 22 caliber rimfire rifle, which will not damage the animal's fur. Prior to shooting, remember the five primary rules of firearm safety (S.M.A.R.T.).
Types. Most of the traps used for mammals can be divided into six types: foothold traps, body gripping traps, snares, deadfalls, cages, and glue traps.
Traps are indiscriminate, catching the first animal to step on them. Countless dogs and cats, deer, birds and other animals—including threatened and endangered animals—are also injured and killed each year by the traps. These animals are referred to by trappers as 'trash'.
The Conibear trap is perhaps the most dangerous trap. It clamps onto various parts of the animals body (shoulder, abdomen, neck etc.) to cause excruciating pain. Each year, our organization receives dozens of calls/emails from pet owners whose animal was accidentally caught and/or killed in a Conibear trap.
Leg-hold traps, a type of restraining trap consisting of two jaws that clamp onto an animal's leg or foot, are so abhorrent that 80 countries and some U.S. states (including Arizona, California, and Colorado) have essentially banned them.
Drowning animals—wild or domestic—is a crime. If you discover that your state wildlife agency, local animal control bureau, or business condones or engages in drowning as a method of killing animals, please contact us right away.
Where the animals head is angled down towards the ground, the key point of aim is located at the intersection point of two imaginary lines drawn from each eye to the opposite ear.
Some animals, especially mothers desperate to return to their young, will even attempt to chew or twist off their trapped limbs. When they can't escape, their babies are left alone, unable to fend for themselves. Because of the cruelty inherent in the use of steel-jaw traps, they've been banned in many countries.
The use of bear traps is banned in some states, such as California, Colorado, and Washington. In these states, the use, possession, and sale of bear traps are illegal. 2. Other states, such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, allow the use of bear traps.
Only a minority of states have banned or restricted the use of steel-jaw traps. Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington have limited the use of leghold traps.
Ensure that metal traps do not sit on particularly hot or cold pavement (those temperatures could make the metal painful to the cats' paw pads when they touch it).
What would happen if an unfortunate human stepped onto a bear trap? Same thing that happens when a bear steps in one. You'd get trapped, you'd be in a lot of pain, and you'd have a very serious leg wound, possibly including broken bones.
Foothold traps are the most common trap used in America. These consist of two jaws lifted by either a pair of wire coil springs or a pair of long metal springs on either side and are designed to pinch and hold the paw of an animal. Note: these do not break bones.
If you are having a problem with a nuisance coyote or two, you may want to kill the animals to solve the problem. That is an option, but they can also be trapped and relocated. One of the widely used methods of killing Coyote is the gun. The best time to have a shot is early morning or late evening.
If you use a firearm to dispatch trapped animals, follow these safety guidelines. Keep the firearm unloaded until you are ready to use it. When you shoot at an animal in a trap, be aware that bullets could ricochet off the trap or nearby rocks. Ask any companions to stand behind you.
According to the law, animals should be stunned into unconsciousness prior to their slaughter to ensure a death with less suffering than in killing methods used earlier. The most common methods are electrocution and CO2 stunning for swine and captive bolt stunning for cattle, sheep, and goats.
Trappers would preserve their meats with salting or drying to produce bacon, smoked ham, corned beef, dried fish or salt pork [5]. This prevented spoilage and extended shelf life.
Address: Apt. 814 34339 Sauer Islands, Hirtheville, GA 02446-8771
Phone: +337636892828
Job: Lead Hospitality Designer
Hobby: Urban exploration, Tai chi, Lockpicking, Fashion, Gunsmithing, Pottery, Geocaching
Introduction: My name is Ray Christiansen, I am a fair, good, cute, gentle, vast, glamorous, excited person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
