Pets in Man-Made Wolf Traps
Idaho: An Animal Cruelty State--And Proud Of It!
In 2012, seventy percent of Idaho voters approved a constitutional amendment to ensure that trapping is "forever preserved" as a "preferred means of managing wildlife.” The "right" to severely injure wild animals, leaving many to struggle for days in the most cruel and painful contraptions ever invented, has been catapulted to the level of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
Each year, commercial and recreational trappers buy state licenses to torture and kill many thousands of Idaho’s wild animals using foothold, conibear (seen above) and strangle-snare traps. Idaho records show that within a recent two-year period, 30 dogs and 24 house cats were among over 800 non-targeted animals also injured or killed in these traps. (Spokesman Review 10-14-12). Traps can be set almost anywhere on public and private lands, even as close as five feet from the center of roads and public walking trails.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the National Animal Control Association (NACA) have declared traps like those used in Idaho to be inhumane because they cause animals extreme and prolonged pain.
FOOTHOLD TRAPS can cause severe injuries as animals fight to escape.
STRANGLE SNARES are not a quick death.
Animals, especially large ones, can struggle for days.
CONIBEAR BODY-GRIPPERS are made to crush the spine.
But animals caught by their paws or other parts can suffer for a long time.
B. J. Waters reported in the Nickle’s Worth, March 2012:
….Our biggest problem hasn’t been the wolf, but the ominous snares that have already killed two of our dogs. We discovered three abandoned snares left on our land that had one coyote, one snowshoe rabbit and a deer with a snare still wrapped around its muzzle, all three in various stages of decomposition….
My wife takes long walks with her dog. A few months ago, her dog was caught around its belly with a snare. She clung to the dog on the ground to keep her from squirming because with every squirm, the cable would cut deeper into its guts. She was on her cell phone for over an hour trying to reach someone with cutters to set her dog free.
In November 2012, immediately after IDFG opened its 2012-2013 wolf trapping season, Stacy Van Steenwyk's golden lab fell into a large foothold trap in the Grangeville area. Van Steenwyk wrote:
When the trap snapped shut on Dotti's leg, she began yelping and drug the trap to the middle of the roadbed....Traps aren't really made to release live, struggling, frantic animals...So Dotti had to endure the trap on her leg while one friend ran to bring the truck to the trap location in order to transport her to a veterinarian in town....But then we discovered the trap was jammed and would not spring open. It took four grown men with pry bars and heavy screwdrivers to pry the jaws of the trap open.
There is now fear and uncertainty where there was once that yellow lab reckless abandonment before trapping…..I do have to admit that I am now worried about these traps in the woods along our trails and roadbeds. The trap Dotti stepped into was within a foot of the roadbed, right along the shoulder of the road, and could have easily trapped a youngster's foot or hand as well as any pet. Idaho County Free Press, Nov. 2012.
In late December 2013, the Cougar Gulch near Post Falls was the site of another Idaho trapping atrocity when a four-year-old black was extinguished by a large conibear trap. Here is the media report:
The day after Christmas was a sad one for Pat Boland and his family. Their 4-year-old black lab, Billi, was killed in a body-gripping trap. The incident occurred when Boland's wife, Kim, took the dog running with her on state endowment lands near their home in the Cougar Gulch area. "My wife heard a horrible yelp and called me for help," Pat said. Billi was caught in a conibear trap, which quickly killed her….The trap snapped on Billi's neck and its grip was so tight Pat had to ask a friend to help him unlatch the springs to release her body.
"I've done a little bit of research and these traps are designed to kill," Pat said….Pat reported the incident to Idaho Fish and Game Conservation Officer Rob Morris, who contacted the owner of the trap. That particular trap, which was removed, was baited to catch a bobcat. "It's a difficult situation because we have areas where people are lawfully trapping," Morris said. He said the trapper, whose name was not released, was not in any violation of Idaho's fish and game laws. The trap included the owner's identification, it was adequate distance from a maintained public trail and the trapper was legally licensed. Coeur d’Alene Press, January 11, 2014.
Note: The conibear trap is the fate of many Idaho bobcats and other furbearing animals. Bobcat fur is currently all the rage in China. IDFG’s most recent Furbearer Progress Report, published in June 2011, reports that during the 2010-2011 season alone, 1430 Idaho bobcats were killed: 1020 in traps, 33 with calling, 291 with hounds and 77 incidental kills. Idahoans should understand that every trapping season, thousands of snares, conibear and foothold traps are set across the state. They hang or lie concealed, waiting to injure or kill pets.
On January 28, 2014, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported yet another trapping tragedy:
“Another Kootenai County family is dealing with the loss of a beloved pet to the jaws of a body-gripping trap. Sarah Miller, of Post Falls, was out for a Sunday afternoon hike - horn hunting with relatives and Loyal, the family dog - when it happened. They were near the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, a few miles up Old River Road, not far from Miller's parents' home in Kellogg. The 2-year-old 'pit/Great Dane cross' encountered the trap about 20 feet off the road, up a deer trail.
"It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen," Miller said. "He was gurgling." With her father, she tried to release the jaws of the trap from the dog's body, but it wouldn't budge. "Within 30 seconds, his oxygen was cut off and he was dead," Miller said.
Loyal, a rescue dog Miller's family brought home from the humane society, had narrowly escaped death once before. "He had been left to starve in a cage," Miller said. "His brother died in the cage on the way to the shelter, but he made it," she said. "And there was not a mean bone in his body."
Miller said she called Idaho Fish and Game to find out if the trapper should have placed signs in the area, warning of the trap's presence. She said she was told there was no requirement that the area be marked. Because the trap lacked an identification tag with its owner's name on it, Miller said the wildlife agency representative indicated there was nothing they could do.”
There is nothing that IDFG can “do” because IDFG profits from, promotes, endorses and protects perpetrators who set deadly traps throughout Idaho’s woodlands and meadows, with no warning for guardians of pets and children. Trappers are not liable for killing pets. IDFG proudly presides over this perversity because the Idaho governor, the Idaho legislature and seventy percent of Idaho voters give animal cruelty and the barbarisms of trapping aBIG THUMBS UP!
Postscript
Again on February 21, 2014, the Coeur d' Alene Press reported that a yellow lab was caught in a foothold trap. The dog was one of two running loose with Shae Owens who was walking the dogs on her 12-acre property. A teenage boy had been given permission set set traps on neighboring property but he inadvertently set two traps on the wrong side of the property line. Owens was able to release the trap and free the crying dog. This media report gives highly significant insight into the current cultural paradigm of Idaho: While Owens herself does not support trapping, she said she understands that it is part of the culture in North Idaho. "There are people making their living on this and it's not my my place to judge them." Owens said. "But I think based on the fact that the dog got out without any injuries, it says that's the type of trap to use."
Each year, commercial and recreational trappers buy state licenses to torture and kill many thousands of Idaho’s wild animals using foothold, conibear (seen above) and strangle-snare traps. Idaho records show that within a recent two-year period, 30 dogs and 24 house cats were among over 800 non-targeted animals also injured or killed in these traps. (Spokesman Review 10-14-12). Traps can be set almost anywhere on public and private lands, even as close as five feet from the center of roads and public walking trails.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the National Animal Control Association (NACA) have declared traps like those used in Idaho to be inhumane because they cause animals extreme and prolonged pain.
FOOTHOLD TRAPS can cause severe injuries as animals fight to escape.
STRANGLE SNARES are not a quick death.
Animals, especially large ones, can struggle for days.
CONIBEAR BODY-GRIPPERS are made to crush the spine.
But animals caught by their paws or other parts can suffer for a long time.
B. J. Waters reported in the Nickle’s Worth, March 2012:
….Our biggest problem hasn’t been the wolf, but the ominous snares that have already killed two of our dogs. We discovered three abandoned snares left on our land that had one coyote, one snowshoe rabbit and a deer with a snare still wrapped around its muzzle, all three in various stages of decomposition….
My wife takes long walks with her dog. A few months ago, her dog was caught around its belly with a snare. She clung to the dog on the ground to keep her from squirming because with every squirm, the cable would cut deeper into its guts. She was on her cell phone for over an hour trying to reach someone with cutters to set her dog free.
In November 2012, immediately after IDFG opened its 2012-2013 wolf trapping season, Stacy Van Steenwyk's golden lab fell into a large foothold trap in the Grangeville area. Van Steenwyk wrote:
When the trap snapped shut on Dotti's leg, she began yelping and drug the trap to the middle of the roadbed....Traps aren't really made to release live, struggling, frantic animals...So Dotti had to endure the trap on her leg while one friend ran to bring the truck to the trap location in order to transport her to a veterinarian in town....But then we discovered the trap was jammed and would not spring open. It took four grown men with pry bars and heavy screwdrivers to pry the jaws of the trap open.
There is now fear and uncertainty where there was once that yellow lab reckless abandonment before trapping…..I do have to admit that I am now worried about these traps in the woods along our trails and roadbeds. The trap Dotti stepped into was within a foot of the roadbed, right along the shoulder of the road, and could have easily trapped a youngster's foot or hand as well as any pet. Idaho County Free Press, Nov. 2012.
In late December 2013, the Cougar Gulch near Post Falls was the site of another Idaho trapping atrocity when a four-year-old black was extinguished by a large conibear trap. Here is the media report:
The day after Christmas was a sad one for Pat Boland and his family. Their 4-year-old black lab, Billi, was killed in a body-gripping trap. The incident occurred when Boland's wife, Kim, took the dog running with her on state endowment lands near their home in the Cougar Gulch area. "My wife heard a horrible yelp and called me for help," Pat said. Billi was caught in a conibear trap, which quickly killed her….The trap snapped on Billi's neck and its grip was so tight Pat had to ask a friend to help him unlatch the springs to release her body.
"I've done a little bit of research and these traps are designed to kill," Pat said….Pat reported the incident to Idaho Fish and Game Conservation Officer Rob Morris, who contacted the owner of the trap. That particular trap, which was removed, was baited to catch a bobcat. "It's a difficult situation because we have areas where people are lawfully trapping," Morris said. He said the trapper, whose name was not released, was not in any violation of Idaho's fish and game laws. The trap included the owner's identification, it was adequate distance from a maintained public trail and the trapper was legally licensed. Coeur d’Alene Press, January 11, 2014.
Note: The conibear trap is the fate of many Idaho bobcats and other furbearing animals. Bobcat fur is currently all the rage in China. IDFG’s most recent Furbearer Progress Report, published in June 2011, reports that during the 2010-2011 season alone, 1430 Idaho bobcats were killed: 1020 in traps, 33 with calling, 291 with hounds and 77 incidental kills. Idahoans should understand that every trapping season, thousands of snares, conibear and foothold traps are set across the state. They hang or lie concealed, waiting to injure or kill pets.
On January 28, 2014, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported yet another trapping tragedy:
“Another Kootenai County family is dealing with the loss of a beloved pet to the jaws of a body-gripping trap. Sarah Miller, of Post Falls, was out for a Sunday afternoon hike - horn hunting with relatives and Loyal, the family dog - when it happened. They were near the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, a few miles up Old River Road, not far from Miller's parents' home in Kellogg. The 2-year-old 'pit/Great Dane cross' encountered the trap about 20 feet off the road, up a deer trail.
"It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen," Miller said. "He was gurgling." With her father, she tried to release the jaws of the trap from the dog's body, but it wouldn't budge. "Within 30 seconds, his oxygen was cut off and he was dead," Miller said.
Loyal, a rescue dog Miller's family brought home from the humane society, had narrowly escaped death once before. "He had been left to starve in a cage," Miller said. "His brother died in the cage on the way to the shelter, but he made it," she said. "And there was not a mean bone in his body."
Miller said she called Idaho Fish and Game to find out if the trapper should have placed signs in the area, warning of the trap's presence. She said she was told there was no requirement that the area be marked. Because the trap lacked an identification tag with its owner's name on it, Miller said the wildlife agency representative indicated there was nothing they could do.”
There is nothing that IDFG can “do” because IDFG profits from, promotes, endorses and protects perpetrators who set deadly traps throughout Idaho’s woodlands and meadows, with no warning for guardians of pets and children. Trappers are not liable for killing pets. IDFG proudly presides over this perversity because the Idaho governor, the Idaho legislature and seventy percent of Idaho voters give animal cruelty and the barbarisms of trapping aBIG THUMBS UP!
Postscript
Again on February 21, 2014, the Coeur d' Alene Press reported that a yellow lab was caught in a foothold trap. The dog was one of two running loose with Shae Owens who was walking the dogs on her 12-acre property. A teenage boy had been given permission set set traps on neighboring property but he inadvertently set two traps on the wrong side of the property line. Owens was able to release the trap and free the crying dog. This media report gives highly significant insight into the current cultural paradigm of Idaho: While Owens herself does not support trapping, she said she understands that it is part of the culture in North Idaho. "There are people making their living on this and it's not my my place to judge them." Owens said. "But I think based on the fact that the dog got out without any injuries, it says that's the type of trap to use."