Today, just about anyone can call themselves an animal trapper in the District. They can trap animals any way they please and destroy them in the cheapest way possible — including drowning or beating them to death.
D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh wants to change that. On Tuesday she introduced a bill that would control the industry, requiring trappers to be trained, licensed and regulated. If passed, wildlife operators would be permitted to kill an animal only if it were dangerous or could not be relocated.
The bill protects the District’s “urban wildlife,” which includes animals generally unwelcome on private property like opossums, raccoons, bats and skunks. Mice and rats are exempt from the bill’s protections.
Using kill traps, drowning or beating “urban wildlife” to death would be prohibited under the proposed legislation.
Homeowners could still personally deal with unwanted animals on their own property. However, Cheh wants to add a provision that ensures they remove the wildlife humanely.
Animal trappers in both Maryland and Virginia are already subject to state regulations.
George Rambo, owner of Critter Control in Virginia and Maryland, said dealing with wildlife is complex. According to Rambo, some animals must automatically be euthanized because they could have rabies. In addition, he said relocated animals usually do not survive in new habitats.
