Wildlife  

1. General  
P.E.I. Humane Society recognizes that P.E.I. is blessed with a variety of wildlife, a heritage which all Islanders have an obligation to protect.
  
a). The P.E.I. Humane Society supports all steps, including the passage of appropriate legislation, which afford a greater degree of protection for wild animals and their habitat, and/or reduce the infliction of pain and suffering on them; 

b). P.E.I. Humane Society is opposed to the killing of any wild animal unless its continued existence will be unnaturally dangerous to itself, to humans, to other animals or to habitat. Such killings shall only take place when all other methods of control are inappropriate;

c). P.E.I. Humane Society is opposed to the use of controlling agents that cause animal suffering (e.g., poisons, chemical agents, certain traps, etc.), and condones only those methods of capture or killing which cause minimal distress to the animals;
  
d). P.E.I. Humane Society deplores the interference with, or destruction of, wildlife habitat and the pollution of land, water and air;
  
e). P.E.I. Humane Society is opposed to wildlife management systems designed to generate surplus populations for “harvest”;

f). Generally, natural laws should prevail to maintain a check and balance on the growth pattern of wildlife populations. 

2. International Trade in Wildlife Parts  

Policy Statement
P.E.I. Humane Society is opposed to and seeks to eliminate the trade in wildlife parts, for reasons including individual animal suffering, and the threat to the species and to established populations. 

Background/Rational 
Such trade encourages the indiscriminate slaughter of wildlife; invites illegal trafficking in endangered species; risks inhumane consequences including the slow death of orphaned offspring and results in wide-spread poaching. 
The following steps are recommended to increase the protection for wildlife in the field, to make laws more relevant and to reduce consumer demand: 

a). establish an international ban on the trade in all wildlife parts, for example, bear gall bladders and paws, elephant tusks and seal penises; 

b). enact effective legislation, federal, provincial and territorial, prohibiting the import, export, sale, barter or possession of any wildlife parts or products claimed to be the latter, and providing deterring penalties for poaching, trafficking and possessing wildlife parts; 

c). intensify the role of wildlife enforcement agencies;
  
d). support effective federal endangered species protection legislation; 

e). strengthen the effectiveness of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) and similar regimes;  

f). provide education to consumers about the trade in wildlife parts andavailable alternatives;
  
g). raise public awareness and promote conservation and habitat preservation.

Approved by the Board 23 February 2000