1.   EU ministers had threatened to block U.S. exports unless the U.S. banned leghold traps.

2.   Late on Friday last week, the U.S. offered to phase out leghold traps over six years.

3.   The petition would ban trapping with leghold traps and also prohibit the sport of using hounds to hunt down bear and bobcats, a popular practice in western Massachusetts.

4.   The U.S. agreed to a general six-year phase-out of leghold traps, with a ban after four years in using them to trap ermine and muskrat.

5.   They are caught in cages and padded leghold traps and killed humanely.

6.   They argued that padded leghold traps are the best method to control coyotes, bears, muskrats and beavers, which are increasingly numerous in Massachusetts.

7.   They say some animals, particularly raccoons, chew off their legs when caught in leghold traps.

8.   Under the measure, the state could allow the use of traps other than leghold traps in emergencies.

9.   European activists staged a protest Monday in Brussels seeking a ban on Canadian fur imports because hunters are allowed to use jaw-like leghold traps.

10.   The decision will likely provoke outrage from animal rights activists who claim such jaw-type leghold traps are inhumane.