FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 25 , 2006
Contact: Paul Perillie, Democratic Caucus Aide -- #(631) 854-4500

Going Double-Barreled Against Inhumane Traps
Outraged By Canine-Killing Steel Animal Traps, Cooper Takes Action

Outraged by the tragic crushing death last month of a Sag Harbor canine companion (a beloved 3-year-old mixed breed named Zephyr) by a steel animal trap while hiking with his owner in Long Pond Green Belt nature preserve in Southampton, Suffolk County Majority Leader Jon Cooper (D-Huntington) today gathered with outraged animal activists, pet owners and concerned citizens as he demonstrated how dangerous and cruel these traps are and outlined his double-barreled approach to ensure that other animals—and even humans—don’t befall the same horrific fate.

In response to this tragic event, Cooper announced he has introduced a memorializing resolution to bolster support for two bills at the state level that would allow counties to restrict or ban trapping within their borders. Despite being introduced early in Albany’s legislative calendar last year, both initiatives (S.2142 and A.1835) have been stalled in committee.

Given that trapping in New York goes back 500 years to its very founding as a Dutch colony and that there are still anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people in the state actively laying traps, it’s probably not surprising that passage faces an uphill battle. What is most disturbing is how despite the development of more humane "Havahart traps" that simply capture the animal in an enclosed steel wire box, most trappers continue use the horrible, limb-snaring models whose technology is 300 years old. Still, Cooper is confident that if given the opportunity to decide for itself, Suffolk County would ban steel-jaw traps. New Jersey already chose the humane alternative and prohibited the use of steel leghold traps way back in 1984.

"The use of any type of trap whether leg, body or otherwise is an outdated and cruel method of killing any animal and cannot be made acceptable under the guise of conservation or pest control," says Amy Chaitoff, Legal Consultant for the Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center in Huntington.

Cooper has good reason to be optimistic. Back in 1986, Suffolk’s Legislature approved a law and overrode a veto by then County Executive Peter Cohalan to prohibit the use of steel-jaw leghold traps. Unfortunately, that law was overturned in 1990 when the state sued Suffolk County for trying to supercede its jurisdiction. Although current Suffolk law does prohibit the placing of leghold traps on county parklands, that law does not extend to private, municipal or state owned properties, like the kind where Zephyr and his owner Gail Murphy were hiking.

"I grew up less than a mile from where Zephyr was killed and as a child, I camped in the Long Pond Greenbelt," reflects Murphy. "Now, because of an individual's blatant disrespect for nature and the community, I will never again truly be at peace walking through those woods. On Sunday, December 11th, nobody heard my cry. Today, I am grateful to all people who are listening and ready to help."

Hearing of how Zephyr’s untimely demise came about brought Cooper back thirty years to his very first foray into the battlefield of public policy. While an undergraduate at North Carolina's Duke University, Cooper first became outraged at the use of such torturous devices. That led him to form the National Committee for Humane Trapping to spearhead statewide efforts to outlaw steel leghold traps.

Cooper actually got a NC state legislator to sponsor a bill. After two years of effort, and despite the vehement opposition of the state’s powerful trapping lobby, some restrictions on trapping were ultimately enacted. However, the proposed total ban on leghold traps was defeated.

"As soon as I heard about what happened to Zephyr, that whole battle came back to me, " Cooper remembers.

Even if New York’s trapping lobby stifles state legislation to grant counties the ability to ban or restrict trapping locally, Cooper is also working on another course of action. New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is the state agency that regulates trapping. Cooper is working on getting his legislative colleagues to sign a joint letter to DEC Commissioner Denise M. Sheehan asking the department to designate Suffolk County as an area where the use of prohibited. As a result of public pressure, the DEC has already designated Nassau County off limits to deer hunting.

"I might not have been successful in banning steel leghold traps back in my college days, but along with the passing of the years and the coming of my grey hairs, I’ve also developed some tenacity," says Cooper. "This time out I will not give up until these barbaric devices are outlawed and we make a commitment as responsible stewards of our planet to put to an end the needless suffering of all animals, regardless of whether they are our family pets or members of our natural world."