INITIATIVE 713.SL

INITIATIVE 713

to the People

Chapter 1, Laws of 2001

ANIMAL TRAPPING

EFFECTIVE DATE: 12/7/00

Approved by the

People of the State of Washington

in the General Election on

November 7, 2000

ORIGINALLY FILED

January 18, 2000

Secretary of State

State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to the humane treatment of wildlife and pets; adding new sections to chapter 77.15 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The people of the state of Washington find that this act is necessary in order to protect people and domestic pets and to protect and conserve wildlife from the dangers of cruel and indiscriminate steel-jawed leghold traps and poisons, and to encourage the use of humane methods of trapping when trapping is necessary to ensure public health and safety, protect livestock or property, safeguard threatened and endangered species, or conduct field research on wildlife.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:

The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 3 through 5 of this act.

(1) "Animal" means any nonhuman vertebrate.

(2) "Body-gripping trap" means a trap that grips an animal's body or body part. Body-gripping trap includes, but is not limited to, steel-jawed leghold traps, padded-jaw leghold traps, Conibear traps, neck snares, and nonstrangling foot snares. Cage and box traps, suitcase-type live beaver traps, and common rat and mouse traps are not considered body-gripping traps.

(3) "Person" means a human being and, where appropriate, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a government, or a governmental instrumentality.

(4) "Raw fur" means a pelt that has not been processed for purposes of retail sale.

(5) "Animal problem" means any animal that threatens or damages timber or private property or threatens or injures livestock or any other domestic animal.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:

(1) It is unlawful to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap, neck snare, or other body-gripping trap to capture any mammal for recreation or commerce in fur.

(2) It is unlawful to knowingly buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange, or offer to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange the raw fur of a mammal or a mammal that has been trapped in this state with a steel-jawed leghold trap or any other body-gripping trap, whether or not pursuant to permit.

(3) It is unlawful to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap or any other body-gripping trap to capture any animal, except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section.

(4) Nothing in this section prohibits the use of a Conibear trap in water, a padded leghold trap, or a nonstrangling type foot snare with a special permit granted by director under (a) through (d) of this subsection. Issuance of the special permits shall be governed by rules adopted by the department and in accordance with the requirements of this section. Every person granted a special permit to use a trap or device listed in this subsection shall check the trap or device at least every twenty-four hours.

(a) Nothing in this section prohibits the director, in consultation with the department of social and health services or the United States department of health and human services from granting a permit to use traps listed in this subsection for the purpose of protecting people from threats to their health and safety.

(b) Nothing in this section prohibits the director from granting a special permit to use traps listed in this subsection to a person who applies for such a permit in writing, and who establishes that there exists on a property an animal problem that has not been and cannot be reasonably abated by the use of nonlethal control tools, including but not limited to guard animals, electric fencing, or box and cage traps, or if such nonlethal means cannot be reasonably applied. Upon making a finding in writing that the animal problem has not been and cannot be reasonably abated by nonlethal control tools or if the tools cannot be reasonably applied, the director may authorize the use, setting, placing, or maintenance of the traps for a period not to exceed thirty days.

(c) Nothing in this section prohibits the director from granting a special permit to department employees or agents to use traps listed in this subsection where the use of the traps is the only practical means of protecting threatened or endangered species as designated under RCW 77.08.010.

(d) Nothing in this section prohibits the director from issuing a permit to use traps listed in this subsection, excluding Conibear traps, for the conduct of legitimate wildlife research.

(5) Nothing in this section prohibits the United States fish and wildlife service, its employees or agents, from using a trap listed in subsection (4) of this section where the fish and wildlife service determines, in consultation with the director, that the use of such traps is necessary to protect species listed as threatened or endangered under the federal endangered species act (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:

It is unlawful to poison or attempt to poison any animal using sodium fluoroacetate, also known as compound 1080, or sodium cyanide.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:

Any person who violates section 3 or 4 of this act is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. In addition to appropriate criminal penalties, the director shall revoke the trapping license of any person convicted of a violation of section 3 or 4 of this act. The director shall not issue the violator a trapping license for a period of five years following the revocation. Following a subsequent conviction for a violation of section 3 or 4 of this act by the same person, the director shall not issue a trapping license to the person at any time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.