Educational Media Reviews Online

This video by the Animal Protection Institute looks at the issue of trapping from the side of animal rights activists. Discussion is centered on the various types of traps used to capture animals for either their fur or for population control. Traps such as the steel-jawed leg hold, the wire snare, and the connabare are shown, along with the way that they are used by trappers. Graphic photographs and videos depict what these traps do to animals. One particular trapper is interviewed during the video, and was probably included because he is the stereotypical "ignorant" trapper that does his job because he enjoys it and doesn't know how to do anything else. The Trappers Association is a strong lobbying group in Congress, and their representative is also interviewed, but otherwise this film is strongly anti-trapping and uses disturbing scenes and photographs to get the point across. Now that the fur trade is no longer popular, many trappers are in the business of killing "nuisance" animals that appear in many suburban areas. The resulting family pets captured by these businesses is also graphically portrayed. Recommended, but only to groups above the high school level. The scenes are just too graphic and evocative for children and teenagers.