Let’s start this month’s roundup on a serious note – polluted water is serious, right? – and talk about synthetic…
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Let's start this month's roundup on a serious note – polluted water is serious, right? – and talk about synthetic fibres. Activists constantly promote fake fur as an alternative to real fur, but it is not a viable alternative. It doesn't keep you as warm, it doesn't feel as good, and it doesn't last as long. But worst of all, it is made from petroleum by-products, and synthetic fabrics are responsible for microplastic contamination in our food, in our water, and in the air. We are literally breathing in plastic pollution from synthetic clothing, and activists are still wasting their time protesting fur.

Speaking of activists doing stupid things, these Buddhist monks were fined for releasing lobsters into the ocean, because the creatures are now threatening the entire ecosystem. (They were not native to the area.) So now we are seeing not only microplastics in the polluted water, but destructive lobsters too.

This group stole a bunch of chickens from a small family farm – let's hope they are jailed. Other animal rights shenanigans from last month include Pamela Anderson's email to Canada Goose staff asking them to stop using fur (they've declined to do so), and these fashion week protests where activists were spitting on people (and the victims weren't even wearing fur).

PETA has turned its attention to attacking the wool industry (pictured), but as this writer explains, shearing sheep is absolutely necessary and the activists don't know what they are talking about. It's nice to see the Huffington Post taking a break from its animal rights coverage to publish a piece about how the movement is hurting people to protect animals. We're no stranger to fighting off the AR's, and our senior researcher wrote a piece recently about his years of fighting the anti-fur activists.

Trapping Not Harmful to Animal Populations

While California is trying to ban all commercial trapping (a bad idea for a state that sees frequent coyote attacks on pets), we've published a piece on how animals that are trapped commercially have very healthy populations – proof that regulated trapping does not negatively affect animal numbers. That said, we do think that trapping is best done out in nature, not from your sofa.

We were happy to hear that seal meat is back on the menu in Canada, this time in Montreal, and that one of fashion week's most talked-about celebrity outfits featured a fur coat.

Speaking of fur coats, these Canadian mink farmers are organising a winter coat drive – adding to the mountain of evidence we have that fur farmers aren't the evil people activists make them out to be. But then activists don't talk to farmers or visit farms, and as this writer explains, visiting a fur farm can only change your perception of fur farming for the better.

Let's end this roundup with a few of the other surprising stories we read last month (though nothing is as shocking as the microplastic-polluted water and air story we mentioned above):

Someone is trying to grow leather using biotechnology (and no animals).

Someone else is trying to make animal-free meat (pictured).

Hunters and vegans have a few things in common. (Trust us, this is a good read.)

And lastly, the least surprising story of the month: a feature on why people gave up veganism. (Hint: it's because they didn't feel well on a plant-based diet.)

Wildlife experts say there are 20 times more raccoons sharing human habitation space in North America than 70 years ago….
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Wildlife experts say there are 20 times more raccoons sharing human habitation space in North America than 70 years ago. In Toronto, where I live, this urban pest reportedly numbers up to 150 per square kilometre, mostly in residential neighbourhoods, not parks and ravines.

I haven’t counted for myself, but these numbers seem credible. As a resident of the “raccoon capital of the world”, I live in close quarters with these pesky masked bandits.

I have been cleaning up the aftermath of garbage bin raids since childhood. On more than one occasion I’ve had to shoo a well-fed raccoon away from the pet dish and out of my house! Battling and fixing their destruction of home and garden has cost me more time and money than I care to remember. And I learned long ago that raccoons cannot be toilet trained, so I have grown accustomed to scooping the poop left on my deck most summer mornings.

Toronto's raccoon policy, like that of the state of Ontario, is live-and-let-live. The city suggests that homeowners discourage nocturnal visits by keeping trash locked up and “raccoon proofing” fruit and vegetable gardens, which I do. But when I discovered last spring that my eaves were being used for a maternity den, it was time to seek professional advice – so I tracked down a licenced trapper.

Trappers Understand Urban Pests

Of course, there is no shortage of “pest control” companies in the raccoon capital of the world. Their services invariably involve setting cage traps to capture, move and release problem animals. Unlike licenced trappers, however, people working for these companies do not require training in the use of humane-certified traps. Yes, even cage traps can be cruel when misused.

Over the years, I have heard some real horror stories about these services. One particularly gruesome tale involved bear spray (pepper spray to most of us) that nearly blinded the unfortunate raccoon.

I am not saying that all these companies follow bad practices, but I prefer to get my advice from the best experts available. So that’s where I went.

All I wanted was the name of a reputable nuisance-wildlife control company. What the trapper provided instead was a relatively easy solution that involved no traps at all. No raccoons were stressed in the process – although my acrophobic husband was required to climb a ladder several times.

The consultation began with a lesson in “Raccoon Behaviour 101”. The trapper explained that a mother raccoon will usually have 2-3 den sites. Persuading unwanted tenants to leave is much easier when they have somewhere else to go!

He also explained that, once the cubs are a few weeks old, the whole family will leave their den as a group to get water every day. So, following the trapper’s instructions, we covered the entry hole under our roof with a piece of loose cardboard. When the cardboard was moved, we’d know they had all left to get a drink. Then – using screws, not nails that raccoons can pry out – we boarded up the hole before they returned. It worked like a charm. My unwanted house guests simply moved (hopefully not to someone else’s house) and my problem was solved.

Anti-trapping activists often complain that trappers are only interested in using lethal methods to control urban wildlife. My own experience shows that nothing could be further from the truth.

FROM OUR WEBSITE: FUR PRODUCTION: TRAPPING