Please look at a more humaine way of trapping the animals. There is so much building going on these creatures have nowhere else to go. I fully support a ban on the type of trap that killed Harper. BV
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Thank you (Councillor Findlay) for meeting with me on Tuesday, May 8th, at the Cornerstone Restaurant, regarding the proposed trapping bylaw and the restrictions that might be attached to it.
I have provided a link below to the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre (OCWC) web site. There you will find information on how to humanely, effectively and permanently resolve human/animal conflicts without using killing or leghold traps. You will find this information under the menu section: “Wildlife Problems”. Please look at the link below, which will provide you with real and effective solutions to human/animal conflicts.
http://www.wildlifeproblems.ncf.ca/index.html
As you will find via this web site, trapping does not solve the problems of animals entering people’s homes. With each trapped animal removed, another animal comes to take its place, because trapping only deals with the symptom of the problem and not the problem itself. Simply stated the real problem is: how and why the animals are making their way into homes, and businesses? As you can see, there are cost-efficient, effective and humane ways of preventing animals from entering private property and of getting them to leave the property if they are already there.
In addition to the web site, I have provided you with two articles (see above). The first article was in the Ottawa Citizen this February, and reflects my concern about the Ministry of Natural Resources working to advise City Council on how to bring the bylaw forward. The second is on the founder and director of the OCWC, who has won an award of distinction for her work with wildlife. I include this article to emphasize the credentials of the OCWC.
After the meeting on April 9th, Bill Murch of the MNR told me that his intent was to make sure that no trapping bylaw was put in place. The responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources is to represent a diversity of interests, not just the interests of the trapping community. Ministry staff ought to provide Guelph Council and members of the public with unbiased information on how to prevent human-wildlife conflicts. The Ministry representative should have informed city council of all the methods of resolving human/wildlife conflicts without trying to influence the city to choose one method over the other. Instead he did not support a by-law that banned the use of leghold and conibear traps.
I am deeply concerned about the Ministry’s role in the discussions of the proposed bylaw. I see two possible scenarios. Under the first, I see the Ministry doing all they can to instill unwarranted fear in the minds of the city staff, the mayor and the City Councillors in order to prevent the proposed trapping bylaw from being passed. Under this scenario the Ministry and trappers raise the spector of animal-born epidemics that could ravage the city, even though such an epidemic has not ever occurred in Canada. In addition, both will warn the city that without trapping, Guelph will be overrun with wildlife and our children, family pets and livestock will not be safe from coyotes or other predator species. This is fearmongering clear and simple. It does not represent the reality of Guelph.
Under the second scenario, I see that the Ministry will encourage the city to create a loophole in the proposed bylaw that will allow for the very same conditions that resulted in the death of Harper. The by-law, designed to prevent another incident like Harper, will be rendered ineffective. Although we vigorously disagree, the Ministry claimed that the trap that killed Harper was set legally and therefore would comply with any by-law that created the loophole, such as the one put forward by the Ministry and the trappers.
Please keep in mind that the Ministry of Natural Resources is supposed to represent all of us in Guelph. The majority of residents in Guelph do not trap and do not expect to have their pets caught and killed in such devices. The Ministry should not only be representing the tiny minority of licensed trappers. By lobbying for the trappers, the Ministry is clearly taking sides and is not serving the residents of Guelph.
I believe that the city should adopt the proposed bylaw to prohibit trapping without any loopholes. As the Mayor made clear at Council, the City has the power to suspend the by-law should such an action be required. Anything less will make the bylaw ineffective and the city powerless to charge anyone, should an instance such as the one on December 12th occur again.
Trapping is no way to resolve human/animal conflicts effectively or humanely. The Guelph City Council must protect wildlife and nature. The residents of Guelph must learn how to live with wildlife and our natural spaces, not eliminate them. This is far more important than the outside interests of a few trappers.
In conclusion, as a resident of Guelph with companion animals, I do not want any restrictions to the bylaw. I ask you to support me in making Guelph a safe, trap-free city in which to live. Please consider my request to ensure the safest possible environment for our children, our companion animals and ourselves. Please do not vote for any restrictions. KL