Dispatching trapped animals

I saw a video this morning in which several different trappers dispatched animals. In one case, the trapper put the loop of the catchpole around the bobcat's neck and tightened it, suffocating the cat. The video shows the cat twitching and gasping. Two other cases involved foxes. The first shows the trapper looping the catchpole around the fox's neck, stretching the animal out flat on the ground between the catchpole and the trapped back leg, and then kneeling and bouncing on the neck. The other fox was dispatched similarly except that the trapper put his knee on the fox's ribcage and bounced up and down to crush it. A final scene shows the trapper looping a catchpole around a raccoon's neck and holding it underwater at the edge of a stream. Are these practices legal? Are they condoned by Idaho Fish and Game? Are the practices I describe examples of ethical dispatching in IDFG's view?
Answer: 
The trapper education course we offer suggests that trappers use a .22 caliber firearm to dispatch the animal.  If a person cannot carry a firearm, another method recommended is to strike smaller furbearers with a small club at the base of the skull.  The other methods you described above are not recommended in the course but are not specifically illegal in Idaho code.  We always recommend humane treatment of the animals.
Answered on: 
Wednesday, August 27, 2014 - 2:09 PM MDT