They hid the fact that these amendments specifically exempted the use of steel-jaw leghold traps and snares for research, conservation, facilities protection, and subsistence. The amendments simply targeted commercial and recreational use of these cruel traps. Each year steel-jaw leghold traps mutilate or kill countless animals. The majority of the time, they catch non-target animals, maiming and killing family pets and endangered species. These traps cause massive lacerations, broken limbs and joint dislocations.
Some animals chew or twist off their own limbs in a desperate attempt to escape.
Arizona, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts recently banned them by popular vote. Florida and New Jersey ban their use. Because refuges were intended to provide a safe haven for wildlife, trapping was not allowed on refuges until the 1950s. Fur trapping is now allowed on more than half of the 519 national wildlife refuges. So much for public concern.