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It’s clear to me that the Pennsylvania Game Commission is out of control and needs a new approach and new source of funding (other than license fees, which have led to the commission being totally controlled by those they should be regulating).
The Game Commission allows the hunting and trapping of coyotes 365 days a year, around the clock, and then expands the deer hunting seasons “because there are too many deer.” If the coyotes were not persecuted and exterminated, they would naturally control the deer population. Also, the commission permitted the trapping of bobcats for the first time in many years.
Now, the Game Commission passes a regulation allowing 7-year-olds to shoot deer (most other states set a minimum age of 12). And, the commission announced plans to allow trapping of river otters for the first time in 60 years. I can only imagine the horrific torture that these happy and carefree creatures (that have been the subject of many documentaries) will now be subjected to – after previously being eliminated from the commonwealth by greed and over-trapping. Trapping has been banned or severely restricted in 10 states and 88 countries because it is inhumane. Also, the American Veterinary Medical Association has declared trapping “inhumane.”
There is already too much pointless violence and cruelty in our world, and trapping is one of the most barbaric forms of cruelty – causing a prolonged and agonizing death to a living creature that might even choose to bite off its trapped leg. Trapping is also indiscriminate and captures unintended animals or family pets. We should not be making it easier for people to use their spare time to kill other creatures in this manner for personal amusement purposes (otherwise known as “trapping” or “hunting”).
Garry S. Taroli
Dallas Township