Trapping

The human activity of animal trapping consists of hunting for animals to obtain their furs, which are then used for clothes and other artifacts, or sold / bartered (see fur trade). Trappers often but not exclusively use traps to catch their prey; hence the name of the activity and its practitioners. Hunters may also trap animals for food.

Animal protection

There has been much debate over the animal protection aspects of trapping. On one side are the trappers, claiming it is very humane due to the relative quickness of the kills. On the other side are the animal rights activists, claiming animals suffer longer when trapped than hunted. The far larger group, the hunters, has often not decided which side to support. Trapping can result in a lot of pain for the animals caught, and it is often more obvious than during hunting. It is hard to tell how much a wounded deer suffers from being hunted, but it is much easier to tell how much a fox badly caught in a trap suffers from the mauled paw. The fact that most of the animals trapped are also traditionally ?likeable? animals has only increased the animal rights groups? campaigns to ban trapping.

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