Every September, Purdue University grants two college credits to graduates
of the"Furbearer Management Course,"conducted by the Fur Takers of
America (FTA), a pro-trapping organization. According to the 2001-2002
Indiana Hunting & Trapping Guide, put out by the Indiana Dept. of Natural
Resources, Purdue is also a sponsor of this course.
With such subjects as"handling fur, grading fur, [and] marketing fur"
listed in its course curriculum, the course clearly caters to recreational
trappers and those looking to get involved in fur trapping. Prospective
students are promised"at least nine hours a day of intensive trapline
instruction. Eat, sleep and breathe trapping for an entire week!"
What the course fails to mention, however, is the inherent cruelty behind
leghold trapping: animals trapped in the wild can suffer for days, often
dying of shock, blood loss, or exposure to the elements before the trapper
arrives to bludgeon, crush, or strangle them to death.
The course also takes place outside of the state-mandated trapping season,
meaning that a"special use"permit is granted just so instructors can
kill wildlife out of season in order to teach students how to kill even
more animals.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Let Purdue University know that their complicity in the gratuitous killing
of wildlife is incongruous with the mission of a respectable institution
of higher learning. Ask that it sever its ties with the FTA and its
Furbearer Management course.
Victor Lectenberg
Dean of Agriculture
1140 Agricultural Administration Building
Room 114
West LaFayette, IN 47907
email: VLL@purdue.edu
ph: 765 494 8391
fax: 765 494-7420.
Please also cc your letters to Dr. Sally Mason, Provost:
SFmason@purdue.edu and Martin C. Jischeke, President:
MCJischke@Purdue.edu
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