Update: This bill failed to pass before the session ended, but was reintroduced in 2015 as A. 927/S. 2953.
Bill Description:
Adds an exemption to the snare prohibition by stipulating that the Department of Environmental Conservation may, by regulation, authorize the use of live restraint cable devices (snares) to trap coyote and other species in the northern zone.[teaserbreak]
Background:
This bill was introduced at the request of the NY State Trappers Association. They claim that this will help them control coyote populations in the northern part of the state. However, naturalists have repeatedly demonstrated that, short of wiping out the species, hunts to reduce population just don’t work. When wild populations are culled, they simply reproduce more rapidly due to a sudden abundance of food and space. Increased opportunities for trapping will be both cruel and ineffective, wasting the lives of countless animals.
Read about the immense cruelty of snares on our trapping page.