Update: This bill did not complete the legislative process prior to adjournment.
Bill Description; If passed, this bill would require that trappers check their traps every 24 hours. Under existing law, trappers are required to check their traps every 48 hours, however, traps set for predators must only be checked “on a regular basis.”
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Numerous scientific studies indicate that frequent trap checks greatly reduce injuries to trapped animals. In other words, the longer an animal is held captured in a trap, the more severe the injuries. This is especially true if the animal struggles or is attacked by another animal. Because traps are notoriously indiscriminate, shorter trap check times take on more significance. In one study of foxes trapped in padded leghold traps, so many raccoons were captured (in spite of the researchers’ conscious efforts to avoid raccoons) that the study had to be redesigned to include raccoons. In another study, 39% of animals trapped in leghold traps and leg snares were “non-target animals,” including four dogs and one domestic cat. All of the small mammals and birds caught sustained severe injuries and were found dead in the traps.