Just as we were about to send this to the printer, we got a call from the Fund For Animals, who had heard of our interest in Russell and wanted us (a) to ask our people to SEND URGENT MESSAGES TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK STATE, GEORGE PATAKI, and (b) TO SEND THEM ALSO TO JOHN CAHILL, COMMISSIONER OF NEW YORK STATE'S DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION.
IT SEEMS THAT NOW IS A CRUCIAL TIME TO MOVE ON NEW YORK STATE'S TRAPPING LAW, AS, DUE TO PUBLIC PRESSURE, ITS PROVISIONS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REVISED. THESE REVISIONS, HOWEVER, ARE FAR FROM ADEQUATE.
PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. EVEN IF YOU ARE FROM ANOTHER STATE, PATAKI COMES UP FOR REELECTION IN '98, AND HE HAS PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRATIONS. HE WILL COCK AN EAR TOWARD A VOTER NO MATTER WHERE THEY LIVE. PLEASE FOLLOW THROUGH, FOR THIS ISSUE AFFECTS YOU VITALLY AND PATAKI AND CAHILL AND ALL POLITICIANS NEED TO GET A SENSE OF THE POLITICAL WIND.
The Fund For Animals has been working for some time on the case of a Boxer-mix named VALENTINE. She is a bigger dog, not a small dog like Russell, about the size of a small child.
On January 4th, 1997, Valentine was with her owner who was jogging along a BIKE PATH near Troy, New York - a public park, with benches and picnic tables for people like you and your family, your children, your pets. Valentine was 50 feet off the bike trail when she began to scream.
She was caught in what they call a Conibear trap. (In speaking with Susan Foster, I understand now that this was also the kind of trap that caught Russell.) This trap was invented by someone named Conibear. It is supposed to kill quickly and to be humane. (Thank you so much, Mr. Conibear, wherever you are, and I have personal hopes for the location of that spot.) You cannot simply pry a Conibear trap open, it requires technique that you would not know unless you had been trained in the use of the trap. As Valentine's owner told us, "Anyone who thinks that this trap is humane has never had to stand by, and watch an animal that they loved dying in it." This trap is the new wonder of the trapping world, the "body grip trap." Any trapper or officer from the DEC will tell you how humane this trap is.
Valentine fought and screamed for an hour-and-a-half before she died. Her owner, Meg Massaro, and her husband, other men who came running to help, the police, and people from animal control, could not release Valentine from this trap. All the kings' horses and all the kings' men...
In a public park with picnic tables, just 50 feet from the trail, that's about two or three times the length of a living room.
What if it had been a child in the trap? screaming for her parents to help, begging for mercy as adults tried frantically to free her, as her life was slowly squeezed out of her by this wonderfully humane trap?
What if little Russell had been a toddler, and his mother had to sit there and watch her baby strangle to death?
IT CAN HAPPEN SO EASILY! IT IS ONLY GOD'S MERCY THAT IT HAS NOT HAPPENED AS YET. AND, AS THE DENSITY OF OUR POPULATION INCREASES, AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE BEGIN TO LOOK FOR RECREATION AREAS FOR CHILDREN AND PETS, THE PROBABILITIES NARROW TO CERTAINTY.
UNFORTUNATELY, OUR POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS ATTACH NO IMPORTANCE TO THE LIFE OF AN ANIMAL, NO MATTER HOW BELOVED THAT ANIMAL, NO MATTER HOW IMPORTANT THAT ANIMAL IS TO THE STRUCTURE OF A FAMILY AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF ITS PEOPLE.
WHAT CHILD IS GOING TO HAVE TO DIE THIS HORRIBLE DEATH BEFORE THE LEGISLATION IS CHANGED?
YOUR CHILD?
Let us tell you about this legislation, at least in the state of New York. And we suggest that you move quickly to find out what the laws are in your own state.
In New York State, "licensed trapper" -- that is, virtually any resident who takes a short free "training course" and pays a few bucks for a license -- can lay a vicious mechanism of maiming and even death just about any place that he or she wishes. As a matter of fact, there is not even a minimum age requirement. A five-year-old could get a license.
Without the permission of the owner of the property, trappers are prohibited from setting these traps within 100 feet of a HOUSE, SCHOOL or PLAYGROUND -- did you know that there can be traps capable of killing your little child (or pets) or at least taking off a leg or an arm just one hundred fee AND ONE INCH from your child's home, school or playground WITH THE BLESSINGS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND YOUR LEGISLATORS?
The trappers are also prohibited from setting such traps within 100 feet of a church, which seems silly, as very few parishioners go gamboling through the undergrowth after Sunday services, until one thinks of the Easter Egg Hunts, and other outdoor fun that Sunday School teachers might plan.
The trappers are also prohibited from setting their traps on public roads, or on posted land.
(Yet Russell was murdered by a trap set along a public road and on posted land and the man who set the trap appeared in court ACCOMPANIED BY AN OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, WHO SAID THAT THE TRAPPER HAD DONE NOTHING WRONG. GO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT AND WHEN YOU DO, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THE TRUE STATE OF AFFAIRS.)
Aside from the above provisions, THE TRAPPER'S CAN PUT THEIR TRAPS ANYWHERE.
For instance, there was absolutely no law to prohibit trappers from laying their traps where Valentine was murdered. (As a matter of fact there are even instances of traps beings set right ON the trails.)
And if Valentine had been your child, guess what? You would have had no leg to stand on in prosecuting that child's death. You would have been told that YOU should have had your child under control -- in this public park, in this place where you think that you are safe, you, your kids and your pets, in this place where you mistakenly think that a benevolent "Big Brother" is concerned about your safety.
As Meg Massoro has fought for a change in the laws of New York State, she had been endlessly attacked, she and her dog vilified, by hunting and trapping groups, by various officials, and even members of media. The first words out of the mouth of the DEC official who came to the scene were, "Was the dog on a leash? Has the owner been cited?" No questions were asked about the trapper or the trap, not even a word of sympathy. Convict the victim instead. In her fight to get the laws changed, Meg has been accused of "trying to create an emotional circus." She has been told, "It was only an animal, let it go, get on with your life." Abusive mail from trappers has poured in. They accuse her of being irresponsible for allowing the dog off the leash (there is no leash law on the bike path), they suggest that the dog was probably killing small animals (hypocrisy beyond belief from people who get their jollies out of brutally killing small animals), or that the dog could well have mauled some child (their traps would do that more quickly), that the dog was out of control and should have been at heel. If Meg had called her to heel she would have been there. This is a dog that often jogged ten miles beside her person, at heel. There were other, much uglier things said to Meg in the letters from these "sportsmen".
Those who love blood bay very loudly and bare their fangs when anyone tries to take that bright red taste out of their mouths.
Officials have told Meg such things as, "These traps are necessary to keep rabies under control", or, "We have to manage wildlife."
(If our officials truly wanted to keep rabies under control, they would use the vaccine bait such as is used in France and which has virtually ridded France of rabies. The rabies ramble here in the U.S. does nothing but enrich the already bulging coffers of the pharmaceutical companies, who have a vested interest in making sure that rabies remains a threat to us. It also gives an endless excuse to those who set traps to maim and kill small animals "for the fun of it.")
And I challenge anyone to show us how traps set in public parks or along roads or bike paths do anything to "manage wildlife".
This lady was just jogging, with her animal accompanying her. There is no leash law along that bike path. And what if she had been walking with her dog on a flex-i-lead? The same thing could have happened! (Or what if it had been a family with the kids playing hide and seek along the trail?) With all the benches and picnic tables, as a poor peon, just a stupid member of the public, it never occurred to Meg, as it would never have occurred to you and your family, that she and those that she loved were not safe from such horrors in the "public park".
Meg did not know, as you and I have not known until now, of the horrible destructive devices that can be laid in the exact places where we live, where we educate our children, and take our recreation -- with the full permission of those who we have elected to serve us and to protect us.
I think that you also need to know something about Valentine.
Valentine's owner found her down in the Southwest of the U.S. Meg was working out for a bike race, when she saw -- this thing lying beside the path. It was August, 103 degrees in the shade. The thing was a dog, Valentine. Her shoulder was broken and she was so covered with ticks that had crawled up into her anus. Her body showed that she had been beaten consistently, systematically, every day of her life. It was a week before Valentine could even begin to try to stand up.
After that, with Meg's love and care, Valentine became a very special dog. She earned the award of Canine Good Citizen. As a mixed breed, she could not take part in "high falutin" shows, but she was shown in fun matches, taking 191 out of 200 points.
This dog was not "out of control". This was a disciplined, loving animal joyfully accompanying her person, her savior, on a morning's run.
And it is a disgusting comment on our society that a dog that had already been treated so brutally should have been subjected to so horrible a death, all with the blessings of our government.
Let's stand up and be counted. There are more of us than there are of them. Yes, we all know about the NRA and the "sporting" societies, the lobbies that slip the hundreds, and thousands, and millions into political pockets. We know about the good old boys with guns, whose often surly natures threaten violence and vengeance on those who dare to object to their "hobbies" more clearly than words ever could.
And, so far, those lobbies are just about the only ones that our politicians have heard from because the rest of us are not organized, and we seldom make our voices heard. Those of us who do not enjoy maiming and killing little animals are the last ones to think of asserting our rights, of letting our leaders know what we really think, what we really want. It doesn't seem necessary to us. Good and loving people like to ignore the darker side, they like to assume that everyone else thinks the way that they think, that no one really wants to harm other living things.
That is how the Nazis, a minority, took control of Germany. The majority, good, kind people, just kept going on about their daily business, ignoring the signals, never for a moment believing that others could be bent on pure evil.
We live in a democracy. We were blessed with a constitution and with certain rules and regulations which are meant to ensure that our voices will be heard. And there ARE more of us than there are of them.
We, the majority, the kind and loving majority, have to get off our duffs and let our legislators know what we want them to do.
When the legislators know what the majority wants them to do, they will do it. Pure and simple, they go with the votes.
Presently, those who want to keep trapping animals are trying to pacify us with something called the "Pet-proof Trap". Just as with the wonderful "body-grip trap", they proclaim that this trap will solve all the problems. The trap is in a bucket or box or something like that. Who do they think they are kidding? Do they seriously expect us to believe that only "target" animals will poke their snouts (or fingers and arms) into these boxes? AND, WHAT COULD BE MORE ENTICING TO A CHILD OUT PLAYING? What about the suffering of any animal, even little human animals, that do delve into those boxes?
NO! ENOUGH!
Just for a moment, imagine civilized men, in pretty suits and ties, sitting in conference, deciding on the newest way to "humanely" subject innocent animals to deaths that anyone with an ounce of sense would know are vicious, horrifying, and painful.
Is that any scene that you want to be a part of?
Do you even want to believe that the men that you have elected would participate in such a scene?
WHO IS THIS COUNTRY FOR? WHO IS GOING TO RUN THIS COUNTRY? The millions upon millions of people with homes, children, and pets, who get their kicks out of peaceful and kind pursuits or will we CONTINUE to be run by a minority who insist upon pursuing their blood sports with utter disregard as to the safety and well-being of the rest of us and of our families, including our animals, and most of whom also do not give a damn about the pain and suffering that they inflict upon their prey? For don't kid yourselves, we ARE currently run by these people.
The Fund For Animals hopes that you will write Governor Pataki and Commissioner Cahil and state your opinion that the law on trapping as it stands is woefully inadequate, that the 100-foot rule is ridiculous, ludicrous, and DANGEROUS, and that a 500-foot rule needs to be imposed -- no traps within 500 feet of any house or private residential property, school, church, public building, playground, public road, public thoroughfare, public path, recreational facility or public park without written permission of the owners and with a warning flag at the location of each trap.
WE hope that you will also call for a complete and total ban on any kind of trap except a "live trap". If only live traps were to be used, at least the animals caught could be dispatched in a quick and more "humane" fashion, while "non-target" animals, and animals caught out of season, could be released.
Household pets inadvertently caught could also be released -- and we would not have tragedies such as were visited onto Russell and Valentine and their families.
We know that there are caring and responsible hunters and trappers. Unfortunately, the laws as they now stand totally protect and encourage people who are anything but caring and responsible.
WE DON'T NEED JUST A "RUSSELL LAW", WE NEED A "VALENTINE TO RUSSELL LAW".
LIVE TRAPS ARE CALLED "HAVE-A-HART" TRAPS. PLEASE DO HAVE A HEART. ALLOW YOUR HEARTS TO BE TRAPPED BY THESE STORIES. PLEASE, OH PLEASE, SPREAD THE WORD TO KIND AND CARING PEOPLE.
AND WRITE, WRITE, WRITE TO YOUR LEGISLATORS AND TO PEOPLE IN MEDIA WHO CAN SPREAD THE WORD. To find the address (both e-mail and US Mail) of your Senators and Representatives, visit The Congressional Directory.
PLEASE WRITE FIRST TO:
Governor George Pataki
c/o James McGuire
Executive Chamber, State Capital
Albany, NY 12224
Commissioner John Cahill
NY State Department of Environmental Conservation
50 Wolf Road
Albany, New York, 12233
(And remember, Pataki wants to be reelected in '98 and to be your President shortly thereafter. Your voice carries a lot of weight with him right now. Remember also that, unfortunately, when you address any member of the DEC about hunting and trapping, despite any assurances you might have from them, you are not talking to a friend. You are talking to the enemy. That enemy is totally on the side of hunters and trapping and of the status quo. As a bureaucracy, that is where the vested interest of the DEC lies.)
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