Wildlife & animal groups file legal challenge to return of leghold traps in New Jersey

On behalf of wildlife and animal welfare groups including the Sierra Club, the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, the Animal Welfare Institute, Born Free USA and Unexpected Wildlife Refuge, environmental attorney Dante DiPirro has filed a lawsuit challenging regulations proposed by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council that would allow trappers to use “enclosed foothold traps.”  The proposed traps are steel-jaw, leghold traps that have been modified to add an exterior metal or plastic housing with a hole through which the animal places its leg to access the bait and jaws of the trap.

Steel-jaw, leghold traps have been banned in New Jersey since the enactment of a statutory ban in 1984.  The lawsuit alleges that the rules are invalid because they conflict with the statute.

The groups have further filed a motion with the Department of Environmental Protection seeking a stay pending appeal.  A stay is necessary to prevent immediate irreparable harm and maintain the status quo until the Courts decide the challenge to the regulations.

For more information: http://awionline.org/content/organizations-file-motion-prevent-use-illegal-leghold-traps-new-jersey

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