Tan, treat or preserve wild animal pelts
What you need to know if you are hiring a tanner or taxidermist to tan, treat and preserve a wild animal pelt, or plan to treat the pelt yourself.
Effective July 1, 2013.
The law
You can tan, treat or preserve the pelt of a furbearing mammal in one of two ways:
- hire a licensed tanner or taxidermist to treat the pelt
- treat the pelt yourself
You can only keep the pelt for personal use (such as you can’t sell a treated pelt, without the proper licence).
You must:
- acquire the pelt legally (register the pelt with the ministry or under a valid hunting or trapping licence)
- provide proof that the pelt was acquired legally to a tanner before a pelt can be treated (such as a trapping licence number or Notice of Possession confirmation)
Tanners and taxidermists must have a tanning licence. Other rules apply to using certain chemicals and toxic substances through the treatment process.
Licensed trappers
You can treat the pelt yourself, without a separate licence or registration. These pelts can be sold, if you legally acquired them under your licence.
Source law
This is a summary of the provincial laws. You can find a complete set of rules related to this activity in:
- Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997
- Ontario Regulations 666/98 (buy and sell), 667/98 (trapping)
Furbearing mammals
The rules apply to these animals:
- beaver
- bobcat
- coyote
- fisher
- fox (Arctic, red)
- lynx
- marten
- mink
- muskrat
- opossum
- otter
- raccoon
- red squirrel
- striped skunk
- weasel (least, long-tailed, short-tailed or ermine)
- wolf
Find a taxidermist or tanner
You may wish to:
- check your local business listings (such as Yellow Pages)
- contact your local ministry work centre (for a list of licensed tanners)