Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-11
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN


Washington. d. c., Jan. s.-Much
attention was attracted recently by
cartoon which depicted a fashionable
woman clad in furs, caught in a steel
trap and dragging herself painfully
across the snow.
The implication was, OF coursc. that
the trapping of fur-bearinG animals
IL cruel business. tnat every woman
who wears fur is a party to II. and
that she ought therefore to be put in
a. steel trap herself in order to learn
what 1t feels like.
This is the kind of ecntimeutality
that still makes hit with a large
part of the American public. despite
the fact that 1t is as alien to common
sense and tho facts of the case as "a
nightmare. 1t Is in the samo class
with the persistent attack on the use
of living animals for scientific expert
mcnt. which involves tho sacrifice OF
their lives. The prevention of this use
of animals in the preparation OF
serums and anu-todns alone would
cost thousands of human lives the first
year it went into eject
The faiiacy underlying all OF these
sentimentalitics about the killing OF
tho lower animals consists in tho fail
urc to recognize the fact that mar is
a carnivcrous animal who lives by
MINK, ana WHOSE Oily .AlNtt 1lslAlN' ~
10 be killed himself. directly or in
directly. 1t Is our inevitable destiny,
as the species OF mammal which do
inmates the Garth. to kill all other liv-
ing things in order to maintain that
domination. And IT is our duty as
civilized men to kill as clesnly and
painlc.sly as VIC can. But tho senti-
mentality which shrinks in horror
from killing is "A symptom OF race
degeneration. The sentimcntalist who
would abolish all killing. lives only
by the protection OF those who arc not
80 suueamish. II we all became son
time ntalists on tho subject. the race
would soon disappear off tho face OF
the earth. At least II would II VIC
stuck to our scntimentality. As a
matter OF fact. VIC would probably re-
vert to savasory and recover our lust
for blood.
Is Trapping Necessary:
1t may be objected that while
killing in general is undoubtedly
necessary. tho cruel form of killing
represented by the catching of animals
in steel traps Is not necessary. But
as "A matter OF fact 1t remains ncccs-
sary until some other equally effective
and more humane way OF killing these
creatures is discovered. And not pri-
marily because VIC need their fur
either. The fur problem is rapidly
being solved by the raising OF fur
bearing animals in captivity. Already
ranch raised fox and skunk furs arc
standard commodities, and :. great
variety of other fur-bcarinE animals
arc being raised in small but growing
numbers. Tho rauch-raiscd fur -
better in quality than the wild fur.
and It is bound to improve enormous
Is as the methods OF selcctlvc breed
f,., n or
Consider what man has done with tho
dog producing one or two parent
stocks a great variety of creatures.
varying in size. form. color and coat.
/ There is no reason to doubt that some
of the ur-bearers will be cqaully i'm
proved. Tho fur farmer will put the
trapper out of business. Tho trappcr
will no moro be able to compete with
him than "A man with a shot gun could
compete as "A food-producer with the
owner OF wcil-stockcd poultry
farm.
Fur will then be produced humane
Z ly, at least in appearance. IT given
his choice, the fox would rather run
wild and be trapped than live in a
pen all his life and be drowned In a
bucket. But at least there is nothing
, about fur-farming to outrage the scnu-
montalist.
Animals Must he killed
The trouble Is that the trapping will
have to go right on. If trappcrs in
almost every county in tho United
States did not wage ceascles4 war on
the predatory animals. no sort of
stock-raising would be possible any
where. These animals. unchecked
would reach an astounding abund-
ancc. II would be as impossible to
raise chickens in an ordinary farming
community as it is now to raise them
/ in "A complete wilderness. Already
tho taxpayers of tho nation, cooperat-
ing with those of "A number of west
| ron states. arc maintaining "A little
army OF Government trappors to keep
down tho coyotes. wolves and panthcrs
in tho West. when the private trap
pers go out of business. as they prob
ably Will. 1t will he necessary to OK
tend this army enormously. The
toNeE, SkunkS, raccons and weascs
would mako life just as hard for the
flrmor in tho East as tho larger
beasts do in the West, were they not
kept down.
How Trappcrs Work
Perhaps tho scntimontalists who
campaign against trapping and wear
ing of FUR can suggest some better
way of killing these animals than
trapping. If so, they should come
fc rward. These creatures canot he