Trap Facts

• Millions of animals are trapped in the United Sates each year.

• The pain of being caught in a steel-jaw trap has been compared to that of slamming a hand in a car door.

• An animal caught in a trap usually has no access to food or water, and no shelter from the weather. It cannot escape from its enemies. Mothers can't feed or protect their young.

• The most frequently that any state requires traps to be checked is once every 24 hours. Some states have no trap-check requirements. Many trappers visit their traps only once a week.

• Animals still alive when the trapper returns are usually clubbed, strangled, or stomped to death.

• It is estimated that for every "target animal" (one wanted by the trapper) caught, two "trash animals" (unwanted) are caught. "Trash animals" may include porcupines, rabbits, skunks, owls--and dogs & cats.

• "Trash animals" released by the hunters often later die of gangrene, blood loss, infection, or shock. Crippled wild animals rarely survive.