TRENTON -- A relatively new type of animal trap was deemed not cruel and inhumane, and can continue to be used in New Jersey, a state appellate court has ruled.

Enclosed foothold traps are an acceptable way to trap opossums and raccoons and do not violate a state law outlawing other forms of traps, the three-judge panel said in its Oct. 29 decision.

The ruling rejects arguments by a coalition of animal rights and environmental groups who claim the New Jersey Fish and Game Council overstepped its authority when it permitted the use of enclosed foothold traps last year.

"The regulation is supported by scientific investigation and research contained in the record," the panel wrote in its 14-page decision. "We discern no flaw in the process by which the regulation was drafted and adopted or in the record that supports it."

Six animal rights groups and the New Jersey Sierra Club challenged a rule that went into effect last year allowing trappers to use enclosed foothold traps. They say the state Fish and Game Council did not properly adopt the rule and that the traps violate a 1984 law banning steel jaw leg-hold type traps.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said he was disappointed by the appellate ruling and plans to ask the state Supreme Court to hear the case.

Tittel disputed that the state Fish and Game Council based its decision on scientific information.

"The court took certain things from Fish and Game as fact. It was not really based o science, it was based on opinion," he said. "It was disappointing. These traps are lethal traps...and therefore still violate the law."

Legislators at the time based the steel jaw trap ban on evidence that those traps did not usually kill the animal and instead caused hours of excruciating pain.

Similar in concept to a mousetrap, enclosed foothold traps have a round bar that, when triggered, exerts pressure against the animal's foot. The enclosed portion is designed to limit the types of animals capable of reaching the trigger mechanism to prevent dogs and cats from being trapped.

Animal protection groups argued the foothold traps are a modified version of the outlawed steel jaw leg-hold traps and are inhumane. They contend box traps would be effective at trapping raccoons and opossums.

The court said the regulation was based on scientific investigation and research showing that the traps are not cruel or inhumane. The decision said the Fish and Game Council justified the use of the leg-hold traps, which the state agency said benefits the garment industry, helps control the raccoon and opossum populations, eliminates nuisance wildlife species, protects endangered species and reduces human and pet exposure to rabies and other diseases.

Judges Susan Reisner, Ellen Koblitz and Thomas Summers said the court could not invalidate the regulations unless the coalition showed that the use of the foothold traps violated the law.

A resolution invalidating the regulation passed in the state Assembly but is still pending in the Senate.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.