Gard: a female wolf found strangled to death in a trap? One Voice is filing a complaint.

Photo : DR

Snares: non-selective traps

Despite snares still being permitted by law, particularly for trapping foxes, they nonetheless remain to be cruel instruments that make the trapped animals suffer terribly.

One of the trappers’ favourite arguments is the so-called selectivity of these traps that are only supposed to capture the species for which they were put there for. But in actual fact, as soon as they are placed in nature, it is impossible to prevent other animals from coming into contact with them. This is how Cooky’s existence ended almost five years ago. We have filed a complaint for him and his family.

Furthermore, even if these traps aim to capture individuals of a targeted species, we must not forget that the ultimate goal that they are aiming towards is the slaughter of these animals considered to be troublesome, or even ‘pests’, by farmers and hunters.

Animals who do not die by being strangled can be left dying for hours in leghold traps, as was the case for Cooper, taken by a device that is actually banned. They can also be prisoners of a metal loop tightening around their leg or stomach, which then acts as a tourniquet that can cut into the flesh. As well as the physical pain, they are plagued by fear and intense stress, and also remain exposed to climatic conditions and attacks by other animals, before finally being killed by the trapper.

As Dr Gilbert Proulx (French-Canadian biologist known internationally for his work on the trapping of mammals and his expertise in wildlife management) recalls in a 2022* study:

The same suffering for dogs and wolves

Wolves, who in fact belong to a protected species and are already slaughtered with the involvement of the State as well as being poached, must also be wary of traps. However, trapping a protected species is strictly forbidden by law and can even be linked to poaching.

The French Office for Biodiversity has recovered the body of the animal for an autopsy and must confirm whether or not it is a wolf. The photo distributed on 10 March 2023, and the witness statement from a former wolf-hunting officer who had access to it, leave little room for doubt.

But let’s be clear: if the victim of this torture device turned out not to be a wolf but a dog, or any other animal, its agony and suffering would have been the same. One Voice is demanding justice for her too.

Join us in our fight: sign our petition to say no to persecuting wolves. For the animal taken by this trap, One Voice is filing a complaint for the destruction of a protected species as appropriate and the breach of regulations surrounding the practice of trapping at the public prosecutor’s office in Alès.

*Mammal Trapping ̶ Wildlife Management, Animal Welfare & International Standards 121 G. Proulx, editor. Alpha Wildlife Publications, 2022.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice