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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6014
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4463
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE USE OF LEGHOLD AND BODY -
CRUSHING TRAPS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 26-72 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
The commissioner may, after notice and public hearing conducted 3
in the manner prescribed by section 26-67, issue regulations governing 4
and prescribing the taking of all species of fur-bearing animals by use 5
of traps within the state. Such regulations may (1) establish the open 6
and closed seasons, (2) establish the legal hours, (3) prescribe the legal 7
methods that may be used, including size, type and kind of traps and 8
the type and kind of bait and lures, (4) designate the places where 9
traps may be placed and set and the conditions under which the 10
placing and setting of traps will be legal, (5) establish the daily bag 11
limit and the season bag limit, and (6) assess a reasonable fee, or 12
develop a comparable equitable plan, for season trapping rights on 13
state-owned property. Assignment of such rights for specific areas may 14
be determined by drawing or by the order in which requests therefor 15
are recorded as received in the office of the commissioner when there 16
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is a set fee for such areas, or the method of high bid may be used. No 17
person shall set, place or attend any trap upon the land of another 18
without having in such person's possession the written permission of 19
the owner or lessee of such land, or such owner's or lessee's agent, and 20
no person shall set, place or attend any trap not having the name of the 21
person using such trap legibly stamped thereon or attached thereto, 22
provided the owner or legal occupant of such land or such person as 23
such owner or legal occupant designates may set, place or attend any 24
legal steel trap in any place within a radius of one hundred feet of any 25
permanent building located on such land. No person who sets, places 26
or attends any trap shall permit more than twenty-four hours to elapse 27
between visits to such trap, except that if such twenty-four-hour 28
period expires before sunset, the person who set such trap shall have 29
until sunset to visit the trap. No person shall place, set or attend any 30
body-crushing trap, leghold trap, snare, net or similar device capable 31
of taking, killing or injuring any animal. For purposes of this section, 32
"body-crushing trap" means any device designed to kill an animal with 33
a blow or crushing force to the body and includes, but is not limited to, 34
conibear-style traps and "leghold trap" means any device designed to 35
close on the foot or leg of an animal with sufficient force to hold the 36
animal until the person tending the trap returns and includes, but is 37
not limited to, a steel-jawed leghold style trap that is either padded or 38
unpadded. For purposes of this section, cage and box traps, nets, 39
suitcase-type beaver traps and common rat and mouse traps shall not 40
be considered body-crushing traps, leghold traps or snares. The pelt of 41
any fur-bearing animal legally taken may be possessed, sold or 42
transported at any time. Upon demand of any officer having authority 43
to serve criminal process or any representative of the Department of 44
Energy and Environmental Protection, any person in possession of any 45
such pelt shall furnish to such officer or such representative 46
satisfactory evidence that such pelt was legally taken or acquired. No 47
provision of this section shall be construed as prohibiting any 48
landowner or lessee of land used for agricultural purposes or any 49
citizen of the United States, or any person having on file in the court 50
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having jurisdiction thereof a written declaration of such person's 51
intention to become a citizen of the United States, who is regularly 52
employed by such landowner or lessee, from pursuing, trapping and 53
killing at any time any fur-bearing animal, except deer, which is 54
injuring any property, or the owner of any farm or enclosure used for 55
breeding or raising any legally acquired fur-bearing animal who has a 56
game breeder's license issued by the commissioner or a fur breeder's 57
license issued by the Department of Agriculture, from taking or killing 58
any such animal legally in his or her possession at any time or having 59
in possession any pelt thereof. No person shall molest, injure or 60
disturb any muskrat house or den at any time. Any fur-bearing animal 61
legally taken alive may be possessed by the person taking the animal, 62
provided the person shall notify the commissioner in a writing signed 63
by the person stating the species and sex of such animal, the date and 64
the name of the town where such animal was taken and the specific 65
address where such animal will be kept. Any representative of the 66
department may at any time inspect such animal and the enclosure or 67
other facilities used to hold such animal and make inquiry concerning 68
the diet and other care such animal should have and if, in the opinion 69
of the commissioner or such representative, such animal is not being 70
provided adequate or proper facilities or care, such animal may be 71
seized by such representative of the department and be disposed of as 72
determined by the commissioner. Fur-bearing animals taken alive, as 73
provided in this section, shall not be sold or exchanged, provided the 74
person who legally possesses such animal may apply to the 75
commissioner for a game breeder's license or to the Department of 76
Agriculture for a fur breeder's license and when so licensed such 77
person may breed such animal and the progeny thereof, and such issue 78
when three generations removed from the wild may be sold or 79
exchanged alive or dead. Any trap illegally set and any snare, net or 80
similar device found placed or set in violation of the provisions of this 81
section shall be seized by any representative of the department and, if 82
not claimed within twenty-four hours, the commissioner may order 83
such trap, snare, net or other device destroyed, sold or retained for use 84
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by the commissioner. Any person who violates any provision of this 85
section or any regulation issued by the commissioner shall be guilty of 86
a class D misdemeanor. Whenever any person is convicted, or forfeits 87
any bond, or has such person's case nolled upon the payment of any 88
sum of money, or receives a suspended sentence or judgment for a 89
violation of any of the provisions of this section or any regulation 90
issued hereunder by the commissioner, all traps used, set or placed in 91
violation of any such provisions or any such regulation may, by order 92
of the trial court, be forfeited to the state and may be retained for use 93
by the department or may be sold or destroyed at the discretion of the 94
commissioner. The proceeds from any such sale shall be paid to the 95
State Treasurer and the State Treasurer shall credit such proceeds to 96
the General Fund. 97
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 26-72
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit the use of leghold and body-crushing traps.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. KUPCHICK, 132nd Dist.; REP. CAMILLO, 151st Dist.
SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist.; REP. MICHEL, 146th Dist.
REP. MUSHINSKY, 85th Dist.; REP. LAVIELLE, 143rd Dist.
H.B. 6014