Too bad the FFA chose to laud fur trapping, and worse that The Chieftain chose to give it lead coverage in its Feb. 24 issue. Fur trapping has been pretty much abolished in California, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, to name just the Western states. It’s a tradition but a loathsome one, on par with cockfighting, dogfighting, bull-baiting and other nasty behavior of bygone days. Today it can be compared with elephant and rhino poaching.

Used to be fur trapping was a viable economic activity, however detestable. Now it’s a hobby that brings in a few bucks at the cost to wildlife and even domestic animals of immense suffering and death. Oregon law stipulates a 48-hour check time for recreational trapping, so victims can linger in foothold and Conibear traps and neck and foot snares for days of agony and despair. And trappers don’t always abide by the check time.

Teaching youngsters that it’s OK to abuse animals this way for pleasure and/or profit is wrong. It instills contempt for the lives and feelings of non-humans and can even lead to similar feelings toward people outside of their immediate group. It’s distasteful to most Americans and lives on only because of momentum and the nostalgic desire for a romanticized past, be it true or not, worthy or contemptible.

Some traditions have value, but others are trash and deserve to be tossed in the garbage.

Wally Sykes

Joseph