It’s too bad that an Associated Press article published Feb. 4 (“Maine wild fur trappers feel effects of softening market”) gives only the perspective of the trapper and not the animal.

And it’s also too bad that the accompanying photos didn’t show what really happens as a beaver, held fast against its will, gasps for breath and struggles until it drowns beneath the ice.

It’s a graphic illustration of an indifference to life that condones suffering in the name of profit and what is sometimes referred to as a so-called “recreational sport.”

What is evident is the financial motive, which helps explain why in-state and out-of-state trappers have become a political force way beyond their diminishing numbers – as we saw when trapping organizations not only from Maine but also from the rest of the country donated large sums to oppose last November’s bear referendum, which would have banned the trapping of these majestic animals.

As the article states, the market for furs is depressed. Hopefully, that may mean that more of our outdoorsmen will return to the woods to enjoy nature without taking life from a creature who wants to live as much as we do.

When and if an animal must be killed, it should be done quickly and humanely. Trapping is neither. The more Mainers know about the cruelty of this brutal practice, the more they will realize that it should end.

Don Loprieno

Bristol