Update: Sadly, this bill did not complete the legislative process prior to adjournment.
Bill Description: If passed, this bill would prohibit the use of steel jawed leghold traps for commercial/recreational trapping. At the present time, these traps are prohibited in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties. This bill would extend that ban throughout the state and it would include their use in water. In addition, this bill would prohibit the use of neck snares. At the present time, these snares are prohibited in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties. This bill would extend that ban throughout the state.
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Leghold traps and neck snares are cruel, arbitrary, and antiquated. These devices cause immense suffering as the animals they capture may die of dehydration, starvation, or predation from other animals if the trapper fails to check the device soon after the animal stumbles into it. Furthermore, these devices are not species-selective. They are indiscriminate and sometimes catch and kill non-target animals, including family cats and dogs and even threatened or endangered species. One tragic example of the arbitrariness of these devices occurred on October 3, 2006, when a 6-month-old orange tabby cat was ensnared ina steel trap set for a fox in Washington, DC, next to the Metro’s Redline rails. The cat’s front leg was crushed and possibly amputated.