REPORT ON ANIMAL "OVERPOPULATION"
Th. Humon. $oci.ty of ,h. Unit.d Stc, HAVE YOUR PETS NEUTERED AND PREVENT THIS
1145 19th Sfrtet. N.W.. Woihington. D. C. 20036 T!-II J . V I -U . 1 f I I
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YO N i C?"V V uteroreeaing toeapens
VX. ll ,Jk 'or rriMff facilities.
hmmammm. TaMMMMkJ si' wmmmmmmthrou eh hands of dealers
't family pets at one time.
animaTTife, creates ready supply of animals
Many thousands of dogs like these pass
who profit from their surplus. Most were
THIS AD SPONSORED BY LOIS WINCHESTER
If Rodeo...
...is accepted as a sport
and its cruel events
glorified in the Sports Section,
then by the same token
Rape should be featured
on the Society Page!
Defenders of Animals, Inc.
P. 0. Box 224
Pewaukee, Wisconsin 53072
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
2869 Glen Drive,
Port Coquitlam, B.C.,
March 24, 1972
An open letter to Ann Lan
ders: Have often noticed in your
column that you are willing
to "stand corrected" when
one of your answers is "off
base" and I strongly suggest'
you "goofed" when you an
swered the man whose wife
was uncomfortable wearing
her new fur coaf daresay
she isn't as" uncomfortable"
as the original owner during
the process of eventually los
ing said "fur coat!"
You informed the gentleman
it is alright to wear 'bea
ver' because they are not in
danger of becoming extenct
- whether the beaver is not
on the endangered species
list, is neither here nor
there - the beaver still feels
pain - like the raccoon, musk
rat and others who haven't
made it as 'endangered!'
You claim there is 'no
logical reason to boycott the
beaver' - how be it, if
I suggest a few. There are
many ways to die in a trap,
all lingering, all ghastly. In
the summer months gangrene
often sets in, adding still fur
ther to the indescribable suf
fering. In the wintertime
their tongues freeze to the
metal teeth of the traps when
they try to lick the injured
leg. A terrible thirst is
ever-present, as trauma or
injury causes extreme
thirst. Of course some 'an
imals' manage to escape, af
ter several days - by chew
ing off a trapped foot - leav
ing behind only a 'souven
ir' for the trapper's trouble.
There are ways and means
to thwart these escape ar
tists though - the trap is
fastened to a bent tree, which
springs upright when the ani
mal is caught, suspending it,
with the weight of its entire
body on the crushed leg or
paw. Birds sometimes peck
out the eyes of the agonized
victim but then this does
not de-valuate the pelt!
In case you consult a 'trap
per' about trapping beaver, he
may tell you they are taken
in 'drowning sets' - not ye
olde 'leg hold' that was in
vented and unchanged since
' its Inception - 300 years
ago! Many 'aquatic animals'
meet their 'end' this way -such
as muskrats, mink, ot
ter and beaver. Now 'drown
ing sets' are passed off as
humane' - properly set, they
are, perhaps relatively
humane; for example, a bea
ver may take from 30 se
conds to 20 minutes to
drown, depending on how
much air he takes into his
lungs before diving (assum
ing he actually dives under
water). While this is ob
viously better than the
several days often taken in
the cases of ' land' animals,
it can hardly be classified
as truly humane.
Not only the 'intended vic
tims' get trapped, reports
of dogs, cats, ducks, song
birds, deer, domestic stock
and species of animals who
are in danger of 'extinction'
-- as one trapper said
himself -- "It is probable
that no instrument was ever
invented that caused as much
suffering as the common steel
trap." It is not only the
trapped animals who suffer as
the consequence of being
' caught - in many instances
they leave behind helpless
young ones to slowly die of
starvation!
Still say "there is no lo
gical reason to boycott ani
mal furs, taken from the
animals who have yet to reach
the 'point of no return?' Per
sonally, I have yet to see
anyone do 'justice' to a fur
coat - as did the 'original
owner.'
Lovely imitation furs are
available that a. gal can wear
without fear of derision -because
the 'ranch furs' are
not the answer - why should
any animal be forced to exist
in a 'cage' under un-natural
conditions -- hear tell they
are kept in the dark to spe
ed 'death dealing day" up
this saves on time, not to
mention 'feed bills' good
old big biz always puts the
'almighty dollar' ahead - no
matter what! Why don't you
visit one of these ' ranches'
and see just how these cag
ed creatures end their days to
insure their fur coat is not
damaged - as they become
'extinct!'
Yours truly,
Lee Davis
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