Looking back . . . but
mostly ahead
Is it [hunting] really a sport if you have all the equipment
and your opponent doesn't know a game is going on? --Bill Maher
Last
year turned out to include numerous highlights for world animals. Among other positives, Ringling Brothers
retired their performing elephants and the US tightened sales of ivory. Sea
World pledged to stop breeding captive orcas. A worldwide ban on trade of
endangered pangolins took effect.
With China’s plan to shut down its commercial ivory trade by year’s end, 2017 began with hopeful signs for animal welfare – in this case, elephants, who are staring extinction in the face. We’ll watch and hope.
But
as the saying goes, “Think globally, act locally.” Which brings us to the Animal Protection
League of New Jersey, where animal advocacy never stops. Caring and working for animals has been described as a non-partisan activity. So, despite politics and “for the animals,”
let’s go!
APL
campaigns from last year continue this year. One example: the fight to force
steel-jaw leg-hold traps back into the illegal status they earned in 1984. Recent attempts by trappers and their cronies
to circumvent the statute outlawing these sadistic traps succeeded last October
with an appellate court’s decision in their favor.
Not sitting still for that opinion,
APL has appealed. An op-ed column in the
Star-Ledger (1-1-17) tells the story behind the court’s
decision. Susan Russell, its author, is wildlife
policy director for APL; she was Friends of Animals’ VP for wildlife and chief
lobbyist behind the law outlawing leg-hold traps.
Her incisive column opens this
way: “In a sharply criticized
opinion, an appellate panel in New Brunswick allowed the state Fish
and Game Council to continue its pretense that a modified steel-jaw leg-hold
trap is not a steel-jaw leg-hold trap.”
Don’t stop there! Please read on –
then act! (http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/01/animal_rights_court_ignored_the_law_in_ruling_on_c.html)
“Defending New Jersey’s black bears since 1992,” APL efforts continue on behalf of our bears, going into the final year -- and, it’s hoped, the final hunt(s) -- of Gov. Christie’s tenure. Things can only get better for bears. Same with the Canada geese in Edgewater Borough, where gassing has been the mode du jour for managing wildlife “problems,” despite APL suggestions for non-lethal means like habitat modification and its offer to buy out the town’s gassing contract.
Reform doesn’t come easily. “So much of what we’re doing must be under the radar, so the opposition doesn’t thwart efforts,” says Executive Director Angi Metler. “It’s frustrating because our members need to know.” Demonstrations or protests aren’t commonly used methods because they can so easily become counter-productive -- without huge numbers of people representing a cross section of the population, without a plan, without follow-up.
Instead, Metler says, “We attended
over 150 meetings last year,” reflecting the organization’s preference for
campaigns with educational components. These can also include talks with public officials and
presenting alternatives; billboards; brochures; mailings; advertising. “We don’t do dictates,” Metler says: “We offer solutions. If you set up a blueprint in one town that
others can use . . . ,” that’s the way to go.
For
instance, much of APL’s success in convincing New Jersey towns and counties to
ban animal circuses and shows resulted from return visits and patient chipping
away at the issue. Bergen County freeholders praised APL reps Julie O’Connor
and Laurie Perla for how they won them over to the side of the animals.
While
other 2017 action targets also exist, Metler’s aware that “our work is dynamic
and it can’t be 100% planned.” One thing
is certain: a lot will be happening.
--Pat Summers
#
1-12-17
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