Caught out

By Justin Robertson
RUSTY, STEEL-JAWED rabbit and dingo traps described as “inhumane” by the RSPCA are being openly sold at a local market.
The Gazette has learned that a stall owner at the Akoonah Park Market has been selling rabbit traps to buyers who have been using them illegally.
Greg Boland, chief inspector for the RSPCA, said the types of traps being sold were illegal if used to catch animals.
“We have problems on a regular basis where people in residential areas are actually setting them to catch cats or even possums because they are getting into their vegie garden,” he said.
“Residents are setting them illegally and they catch all different types of animals. The big thing for us is that it will cause extreme impact on the welfare of the animal –it’s inhumane. It’s the main reason why they are banned.”
In 2008 the Department of Primary Industries made an amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986, that states “A person must not sell a trap that is not prescribed by regulations in the Act and, a person who sells a trap must do so in accordance with the Act regulations.”
The sale of traps to a museum or collectors of traps are the only exceptions to the Act. Mr Boland said it was tough to prosecute anyone selling the traps as it relied on a self-confession from the seller.
“The difficulty is that the term “collector” is not defined, he said. “If someone is selling them to be used as a trap, then it’s an offence. Someone who wants to keep it and hang it on their wall, then there is no real issue.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Primary Industries said the term “collector” was not defined in the 1986 Act.
“What is meant is that the person collects the traps for the purposes of a collection or display, such as a hobbyist would do, not for the purposes of using the traps,” he said.
Six weeks ago Barrie Tapp, the state co-ordinator from the Animal Hotline received a tip-off the traps were being sold at the market, following on from several trap incidents last month – one involved a possum being caught.
“It’s a danger for native animals and cruel if an animal is caught. There have been incidents where a fox had been left in the trap for days and had to chew its leg to escape,” he said. “Some of the traps that are being set are placed under trees near paths where little kids walk through – kids could have been caught in it.”
If found guilty, the penalty for selling traps illegally is 120 demerit points and a $12,000 fine.
During his surveillance, Mr Tapp said he’d been investigating the same issues each week and it seemed to be getting worse. “Last week I saw big dingo traps being sold, it’s just getting out of hand, he said. “People are buying them and setting them up willy-nilly – it’s just got to be stopped.”
Berwick Market manager, Andrew Dedlefs said they were doing everything possible to stop the selling of traps.
“We’ve already dealt with one seller, and we can only do what we can if it comes to our attention,” he said. “But I don’t have time every Sunday to walk around and check what everyone is bringing in off their cars – there are 350 stalls.”
The City of Casey local laws committee has been investigating the selling of rabbit traps at the market and advised contact with the stallholder had already been made, said the manager of community safety Caroline Bell.
“This matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation and its too early to advise on what course of action may be taken. We can confirm that traps are being sold at the market,” she said. “However, whether the sale of the traps is illegal is the subject of council’s ongoing investigation.”