Again, Please Urge Ottawa, Ontario, to Reject Cruel Trapping of Beavers
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UPDATE | 09/24/12
Thank you for your email. I appreciate your input and concern for wildlife. It appears you may not have all the pertinent information and there is more detail that may be of interest to you.
The beaver that were dwelling in the man-made storm sewer at Paul Lindsay Pond have been successfully live-trapped and relocated to Morris Island in the Morris Island Conservation Area. The relocation was authorised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and conducted by wildlife professionals and overseen by the same City Bylaw & Regulatory Services staffer who has tended the Royal Swans for most of her career.
I understand that Morris Island has plenty of food and space for the beaver and their activities will not impact private property (a picture of Morris Island is attached). As well, the water levels at Morris Island are controlled by Les Chats dam, so the beaver do not need to build their own dam. They can build the same type of bank lodge that they would have built at Paul Lindsay Park pond which they do in fact have sufficient time to carry out.
The conditions for the beaver in the pond in which they were living were less than ideal. They were, in fact, living in the one of the pond’s culverts (a picture of this location is attached). Essentially it is a sewer in which various gases can build up. Storm water management ponds are designed such that water can rise and fall over short periods of time and therefore, they make very unpredictable habitat for this type of animal.
The beaver had not had an opportunity to build a proper lodge and unless the water in the pond had risen substantially, the beaver would not have been able to do so. Our professional wildlife advisors and city staff determined that the window of opportunity to move the beaver to a more natural setting was now, when they still have time to settle in to a new location before winter. A picture of the beaver swimming in their new home is also attached.
I trust that this information will be of use to you.
Sincerely,
Jim Watson
Mayor
City of Ottawa
BACKGROUND
The city of Ottawa, Ontario, is still considering using cruel traps to kill beavers. Body-gripping, steel-jaw, and snare traps are horribly cruel. Animals suffocate when the traps clamp down on their necks, or they drown (which can take up to 15 minutes, all the while experiencing extreme terror and pain) when traps pin them underwater. Panicked, exhausted animals trapped in shallow water can also drown, and many victims attempt to chew themselves free.
Please politely ask Ottawa to ditch the cruel use of traps entirely. And please forward this message.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please send polite comments to the following:
Email Block
kent.kirkpatrick@ottawa.ca; nick.stow@ottawa.ca; jim.watson@ottawa.ca; stephen.blais@ottawa.ca; rainer.bloess@ottawa.ca; david.chernushenko@ottawa.ca; peter.clark@ottawa.ca; diane.deans@ottawa.ca; steve.desroches@ottawa.ca; ward9@ottawa.ca; mathieu.fleury@ottawa.ca; jan.harder@ottawa.ca; katherine.hobbs@ottawa.ca; allan.hubley@ottawa.ca; peter.hume@ottawa.ca; maria.mcrae@ottawa.ca; scott.moffatt@ottawa.ca; bob.monette@ottawa.ca; mark.taylor@ottawa.ca; tim.tierney@ottawa.ca; doug.thompson@ottawa.ca; shad.qadri@ottawa.ca; rick.chiarelli@ottawa.ca; eli.el-chantiry@ottawa.ca; diane.holmes@ottawa.ca
Individual
Kent Kirkpatrick
City Manager of Ottawa
kent.kirkpatrick@ottawa.ca
Nick Stow
Planner III, Planning and Growth Management
Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability
City of Ottawa
nick.stow@ottawa.ca
The Honorable Jim Watson
Mayor of Ottawa
jim.watson@ottawa.ca
Ottawa City Council members
stephen.blais@ottawa.ca; rainer.bloess@ottawa.ca; david.chernushenko@ottawa.ca; peter.clark@ottawa.ca; diane.deans@ottawa.ca; steve.desroches@ottawa.ca; ward9@ottawa.ca; mathieu.fleury@ottawa.ca; jan.harder@ottawa.ca; katherine.hobbs@ottawa.ca; allan.hubley@ottawa.ca; peter.hume@ottawa.ca; maria.mcrae@ottawa.ca; scott.moffatt@ottawa.ca; bob.monette@ottawa.ca; mark.taylor@ottawa.ca; tim.tierney@ottawa.ca; doug.thompson@ottawa.ca; arianne.wilkinson@ottawa.ca; shad.qadri@ottawa.ca; rick.chiarelli@ottawa.ca; eli.el-chantiry@ottawa.ca; diane.holmes@ottawa.ca
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Officials,
It has come to my attention that Ottawa is considering using traps to cruelly kill beavers at Lindsay Pond Park. The city recently made the compassionate decision to explore humane beaver control methods, but now it’s apparently backing away from that.
Body-gripping, steel-jaw, and snare traps are horribly cruel. Animals suffocate when the traps clamp down on their necks, or they drown (which can take up to 15 minutes, all the while experiencing extreme terror and pain) when traps pin them underwater. Panicked animals trapped in shallow water can also drown, and many victims attempt to chew themselves free.
Beavers can be humanely controlled using flow pipe and fence devices. These devices keep beavers out of areas where they are unwanted and encourage them to live elsewhere.
It would be unfortunate, but until this barbarism is appropriately addressed including a mandatory ban of such, I and others will collectively boycott resulting in the sacrifice of vital tourism and commerce profits. Please act responsibly and with compassion and choose to protect, rather than sanction harm, to animals.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
i am a beaver,
my leg is caught,
so i languish in this
trap,
my efforts, for naught
if i chew off my leg,
i will surely die.
please people out there
tell these traps
GOODBYE!!!!
Karen Lyons Kalmenson
Our Compass 
Thank you very much for making it easy to copy & paste the email block & protest letter via email to all of the above. The address for Arianne Wilkinson however, seems to be outdated as it was returned undelivered. Have you considered sending along a petition to Ottawa as well, giving them further proof that Canadians, and the rest of the world adamantly reject their inhumane trapping of one of our country’s national symbols!!
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Thank you, cat, I personally didn’t get her email back undelivered, but I removed the address in any case.
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Ok good Stacey. Will there be a petition to circulate
and send to Ottawa as well? Thanks for caring.
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Thanks so much Stacey i sent off the emails and im sharing in several plaes too ill let you know if any emails come back but so far so good!
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Thank you so much, sweetie!
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oon lol it seems arianne.wilkinson has REJECTED my mail lmao so im guessing thats a good thing
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That’s the second I know of so I removed her name. She must be tired of receiving so many protest emails – good!!! Maybe it will help her see the light.
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i just had the same thing happen so i am resending without her name
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Thank you, hon.
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i am a beaver,
my leg is caught,
so i languish in this
trap,
my efforts, for naught
if i chew off my leg,
i will surely die.
please people out there
tell these traps
GOODBYE!!!!
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Your poems speak volumes Karen…if only those powers that be would LISTEN!!
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Done .. thank you :*(
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NO SPECIES IS SAFE !! SICK TO DEATH OF THE HUMAN RACE !!!
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“Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
Just because we always have, doesn’t mean we always have to.
Once we KNOW better, we should DO better.” ~ Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
I couldn’t agree with you MORE Linda. All animal abuse is a total disgrace to the whole human race!
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Just FYI… here is the response I just received to the protest email from the Mayor of Ottawa….with 4 photo attachments
Thank you for your email. I appreciate your input and concern for wildlife. It appears you may not have all the pertinent information and there is more detail that may be of interest to you.
The beaver that were dwelling in the man-made storm sewer at Paul Lindsay Pond have been successfully live-trapped and relocated to Morris Island in the Morris Island Conservation Area. The relocation was authorised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and conducted by wildlife professionals and overseen by the same City Bylaw & Regulatory Services staffer who has tended the Royal Swans for most of her career.
I understand that Morris Island has plenty of food and space for the beaver and their activities will not impact private property (a picture of Morris Island is attached). As well, the water levels at Morris Island are controlled by Les Chats dam, so the beaver do not need to build their own dam. They can build the same type of bank lodge that they would have built at Paul Lindsay Park pond which they do in fact have sufficient time to carry out.
The conditions for the beaver in the pond in which they were living were less than ideal. They were, in fact, living in the one of the pond’s culverts (a picture of this location is attached). Essentially it is a sewer in which various gases can build up. Storm water management ponds are designed such that water can rise and fall over short periods of time and therefore, they make very unpredictable habitat for this type of animal.
The beaver had not had an opportunity to build a proper lodge and unless the water in the pond had risen substantially, the beaver would not have been able to do so. Our professional wildlife advisors and city staff determined that the window of opportunity to move the beaver to a more natural setting was now, when they still have time to settle in to a new location before winter. A picture of the beaver swimming in their new home is also attached.
I trust that this information will be of use to you.
Sincerely,
Jim Watson
Mayor, City of Ottawa
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Thank you, Cat, I received the same message and pictures and updated the alert.
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Reblogged this on delia1979.
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