Despite some calls for a full ban of the practice, Environment, Energy and Climate Action Minister Steven Myers says it seems unlikely P.E.I. will put an end to all trapping of animals — but his department does plan to implement some changes ahead of the next season.
A petition to ban trapping and snaring carrying hundreds of signatures was tabled in the legislature Tuesday, minutes after Myers introduced a review commissioned by the province to look into both the activity itself and the impact a ban would have.
The review was done by the Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative through the Atlantic Veterinary College. Authored by Pierre-Yves Daoust, a retired wildlife pathologist, the report raises concerns about the challenges a ban would pose to effective wildlife management and population control.
“We started out with the approach that we wanted to ban snaring especially … I asked for evidence and that’s the evidence I got. So sometimes when you present a hypothesis, your research doesn’t support what you wanted,” Myers told CBC News on Tuesday.
