The ban, in the Act’s words
Section 23 is headed “Certain traps not to be set”. Its subsection (2) opens with a prohibition, and the first of its paragraphs reads:
“(2) A person must not: (a) in any part of New South Wales, set a steel-jawed trap, or”
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW), s 23(2)(a); the Act’s dash after “must not” is shown as a colon
Paragraph (b) matters for an old trap in the shed: a person must not “possess a steel-jawed trap with the intention of using it to trap an animal”.
The section defines the trap it bans:
“steel-jawed trap means a trap that has jaws that are made of steel, iron or other metal and that are designed to spring together and trap an animal when a leg or other part of the animal’s body comes into contact with, or is placed between, the jaws, but does not include a soft-jawed trap (that is, a trap with steel jaws that are offset and padded).”
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW), s 23(3)
For an offence against section 23, the maximum penalty is 250 penalty units for a corporation, and for an individual 50 penalty units or 6 months’ imprisonment, or both.
DPIRD’s procedures say what that leaves. Its rabbit procedure says cage traps and padded-jaw traps are permitted in NSW and steel-jaw traps are prohibited; its fox procedure lists padded-jaw traps, cage traps and treadle snares as permitted. The regional plan names the traps for two animals: for controlling cats in NSW, soft-jawed or padded-jawed spring traps, with cage traps allowed on a condition (below); for wild dogs, soft-jawed or padded-jawed spring traps or cage traps.
The defence, with its whole condition
Section 23B applies when someone is already accused of an offence, and it is for that person to satisfy the court. Here is the part about trapping, with the words that carry its condition:
“(1) In any proceedings for an offence against this Part or the regulations in respect of an animal, the person accused of the offence is not guilty of the offence if the person satisfies the court that the act or omission in respect of which the proceedings are being taken was done, authorised to be done or omitted to be done by that person: … (b) in the course of, and for the purpose of: (i) hunting, shooting, snaring, trapping, catching or capturing the animal, or … in a manner that inflicted no unnecessary pain upon the animal,”
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW), s 23B(1)(b)(i); the marks … stand for words left out, and the Act’s dashes are shown as colons
Two things in it carry the weight: the act must be done in the course of, and for the purpose of, trapping or one of the other activities listed, and it must be done “in a manner that inflicted no unnecessary pain upon the animal”. Subsection (2) adds that paragraph (1)(b) does not apply to someone accused of an offence against section 19A.
How often to look in the trap
DPIRD’s standard operating procedures are guidance, and each says it does not replace or override NSW legislation. On the question that matters most for an animal in a trap, this is what five of them say:
| Trap | How often | Also says |
|---|---|---|
| Fox, cage trap | Inspected daily. | A small mesh, 50 mm recommended, limits injuries to a fox’s teeth and mouth. Better not to trap while vixens are lactating. |
| Rabbit, cage trap | Inspected daily, preferably early in the morning, and left open during the day. | Set no more traps than can be checked and cleared in 2 to 3 hours. |
| Pest birds | Inspected regularly, preferably daily, with any birds caught removed and killed quickly and humanely at each inspection. | Traps holding lure birds: at least once a day for small traps, at least every two days for larger ones. |
| Feral deer | Twice a day in peak fawning periods, at least once a day otherwise. | More in the notice on feral deer. |
| Cats | All traps checked daily (the regional plan). | Cage traps may be used, but a council ranger has to be asked for permission to deem the cat feral before it is euthanised. |
When the trap catches something else
Traps are not target specific. In the rabbit procedure’s words, the animals caught by mistake can include birds, echidnas, goannas and possums. That matters, because “All native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, but not including dingoes, are protected in New South Wales by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.”
Both the fox and rabbit procedures say traps must not be set near places that animals other than the target regularly use.
Mynas: unprotected, and still covered by the codes
DPIRD lists the myna’s protection status in three words: “Unprotected; introduced species.” Native birds are another matter: with few exceptions they are protected, and destroying them needs a permit.
Mynas breed from August to March. The bird trapping procedure prefers no trapping in the nesting season, so that dependent chicks are not left to starve. It also asks for a trap tall, long and wide enough for a bird to stretch its wings, and says trapped pest birds should be euthanased after capture: trapping them for the pet or export trade is not acceptable on welfare grounds, in the view of the National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare.
Handling what you catch
Trapped foxes are dangerous to handle and can inflict serious bites, so the fox procedure says operators must be protected by tetanus immunisation. For the other notices on the board, see 1080 fox baiting and your neighbours and rabbits, calicivirus and pindone.