Nearly a year after a dog was caught in a leg-hold trap in Sechelt, the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals is imploring council to finalize a bylaw that would ban the use of body-gripping traps in the District.
A draft bylaw is expected to come forward in the next few weeks, and association executive director Lesley Fox seized an opportunity at the March 28 committee of the whole meeting to stress the need for a ban.
"A municipal bylaw is needed to close the gap left from provincial trapping regulation and the wildlife act. These two pieces of legislation do nothing to protect wildlife, pets and their owners in your community," Fox said.
She referred to the incident where a local dog stumbled upon a trap and said the association hears many similar stories each year.
"Just two days ago, there was a dog near Merritt that was found in a leg-hold trap, a German shepherd. He was there for two days I'm not sure if he'll be able to keep his leg," Fox said.
She stressed the inhumane aspects of body-gripping traps and asked council to use specific wording when crafting a new bylaw.
"What we're specifically asking is for council today to make a commitment to ban the use of Conibear, leg-hold and snare traps these are the most lethal," she said.
An overflow audience came to hear Fox's delegation to the council that will ultimately decide upon the bylaw, although the previous council set it in motion.
"While many people in Sechelt have been passionate about this issue, unfortunately, the previous council was unable to resolve it. And now, of course, that task is yours," Fox said.
An incident in April 2011 sparked the debate around trapping when a dog got caught in a leg-hold trap at the top of Mason Road. Many in the community raised concerns about the safety of traps being set where pets and people could trigger them.
Later, a cat was caught in a trap in Gibsons, and the issue heated up with vocal opponents to the traps speaking out at council meetings.
On Aug. 2, 2011 the Town of Gibsons adopted a bylaw to ban the use of body-gripping animal traps, but Sechelt was unsure if they had the authority to institute a similar bylaw.
On Nov. 2, 2011, after much discussion about the enforceability, Sechelt council voted to draft a bylaw stipulating that it must be "acceptable by legal counsel."
Fox tried to clear up any concerns around the District's authority at this week's committee meeting.
"The province regulates trapping, full stop," she said. "You can't ban trapping, but you can ban the use of certain traps, and that's what we're really encouraging council to do."
Coun. Doug Hockley was the first to respond to Fox and he didn't mince words.
"I'm going to be going out of my way to convince my fellow council members that this is an obscenity," Hockley said while holding up a leg-hold trap. "There's no justification that anyone, I don't care who they are, can bring forward to say that there's any possible reason why this should be in the District of Sechelt."
Coun. Chris Moore was concerned about how the District would deal with problem animals if a trapping ban were to be instituted.
"There are a wealth of existing wildlife management plans that don't involve any type of killing," Fox assured.
Mayor John Henderson thanked Fox for her presentation and left her with some hope the ban may be forthcoming.
"We will have a draft bylaw coming to committee of the whole in about two weeks. So we've certainly received your documents and we will be impressing on staff to take them into account," Henderson said.
