Originally Posted by
Fenelon
I spoke to the employee who is in charge of the trapping section, and voiced my concerns to him about the general public having access to restricted equipment. His only response was that Cabelas had thoroughly checked this out before stocking, so he was sure it was totally OK. I told him that it definately is not OK to be allowing the general public to purchase the traps, informed him of the section under the FWCA, and let him know what the purchase policy is at every Ontario trap supply retailer. Spoke to him for a good 15mins on the matter and he said it had all been researched. I was not the first trapper to approach him on this, so he had already heard the concerns from other customers who had come into the store. I don't think you guys that don't trap understand the implications of this occurring. Offence aside, and the fact some some unknowing person has not been informed that they are breaking the law, the damage that will occur from this will have a big negative impact on all trappers, and the fur industry. It's already under total 24/7 scrutiny from the general public, and esp. anti groups. Even one single negative incident does major damage, at a time when major efforts have been made to improve things (AIHTS, trap certification and testing program, new regs under the FWCA, upgraded course instructor training, new trap research and certification of "pet friendly" equipment, etc., etc.). Imagine the impact of some untrained/unlicenced person buying lethal kill traps at Cabelas, and setting them in their backyard beside your house. Guess who gets the black eye when the first dog or cat is dead in a snare, or a 220. Imagine it's your own pet. Then it goes viral on the social media. Something the trapping industry definately does not need. Time to Let MNR and OFMF Ontario Fur Managers Federation handle this.