Victims of Vanity II (2016)

Over the course of the 2015-2016 trapping season, Born Free USA conducted a follow-up investigation to Victims of Vanity, our landmark investigation in 2011 that exposed the dark, brutal world of trapping.

Since the release of Victims of Vanity, trapping apologists have continued to argue that trapping is humane, necessary, and a “tradition” worth preserving. They also have accused anti-trap organizations of only broadcasting the very worst and extremely rare trapping incidents: accidents that are in no way representative of what they claim is a well-regulated, selective activity.

However, this undercover footage from New York and Iowa obtained by Born Free USA once again reveals the truth of trapping. Common trapping practices remain as ruthless, dangerous, and archaic as we revealed five years ago.

Main Findings:

Trapping in Protected Areas.

Adirondack Park is a six-million-acre park in upstate New York with a “Forever Wild” designation. Visitors come with their families, friends, and pets to enjoy the area’s wildlife and wild spaces and yet, within this pristine, protected area, our investigator followed a trapper as he trapped beavers and set more traps for coyotes, bobcats, mink, otters, and fishers.

Illegal Trapping.

Our footage reveals that even licensed trappers will regularly and knowingly step outside the law as it suits them, feeling secure in the broad lack of oversight and enforcement.

Dangerous Trapping.

By their very nature, traps are unable to control what they catch. In New York, it is illegal to place traps on public roads, but the areas under bridges are exempt, putting millions of visitors who travel over them at risk. In Iowa, the trapper set numerous leghold traps next to public roads, trails, and private homes and buildings.

Cruelty.

Simply put, traps are inherently cruel. They break bones, sever limbs, and crush organs, causing unrelenting pain and often gruesomely prolonged death. Even restraining a wild animal—removing the ability for ‘fight or flight’—causes intense stress. Depending on how long the animal is left to languish, he or she may be susceptible to hypothermia, thirst, starvation, and predation.