Lucky to be alive
Published Tuesday December 2nd, 2008
Pets Female dog found in bobcat trap
SAINT JOHN - Animal Rescue League executive director Janet Foster says a dog that was found in a bobcat trap on Monday is lucky to be alive.
The dog was discovered by provincial Department of Natural Resources assistant conservation supervisor Roy Marchand in the Loch Lomond watershed area with her head stuck in a Conibear trap. After freeing the large German shepherd mix, Marchand quickly took her to the animal shelter.
Foster said she was surprised the dog survived the ordeal.
"The dog's head went into the trap on an angle," she said. "This dog should be dead, it's just fortunate that the head didn't go in straight.
"Dog owners need to realize the dangers of not supervising their pets."
Foster does not know who owns the dog. The dog didn't have a collar or identifying microchip, and no reports have been filed for a large, missing Shepherd mix.
Natural Resources wildlife biologist Rod Cumberland says that Conibear traps are designed to be a very humane method of killing wild animals.
"For years we've had animal rights debates in Canada," he said. "Thirty million dollars has been invested into researching humane, quick-killing traps. The ones we use now are the most humane in the world. They're intended to kill animals in less than five minutes."
Chrystiane Mallaley, media relations and public safety officer for Natural Resources, says the trap was set legally since she was about a 1.5 kilometres away from a residential area. Official government guidelines state that traps must be more than 300 metres away from residential buildings.
She also noted that hunters and trappers in New Brunswick have to take a course that explains the rules and guidelines about traps and gun use.
She said it is the responsibility of dog owners to keep an eye on their pets and prevent them from roaming unleashed - especially in remote areas.
"In particular at this time of year, during hunting season, pets can be hurt," Mallaley said. "Pet owners need to be aware of the safety risks."
Cumberland said it seems like the message is still not getting through to some owners, despite the Department of Natural Resource's attempts to create awareness of the risks for unsupervised pets.
"You hate to see pets get hurt, but as pet owners we can't let our pets run at large," he said. "It seems like this is becoming more of a problem recently. We've done radio spots, created online brochures and met with the SPCA, but this is still happening. People really need to be more responsible."
Foster said the dog is still being cared for at the Animal Rescue League. The dog has a badly swollen muzzle and seems to be traumatized, but should be able to recover. A veterinarian inspected the dog, and said she should be kept quiet and calm while she heals.
Cumberland said it's a shame that preventable accidents like this continue to happen.
"This is a reflection on our society," he said. "You'd think the rates of these incidents would decline, but they aren't. Lack of responsibility is the problem here."
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I think people who still set traps are rednecks that should be forced to step in their own traps.
"it is the responsibility of dog owners to keep an eye on their pets and prevent them from roaming unleashed - especially in remote areas."
Nuff said...
Why is it that there is always a small number of people that give something a bad name? I can drive down the road on any given day and see a loose dog, cat , and the one that suffers is the animal? This problem won't go away, you can't force people to be good pet owners or for that matter good parents....
Just because my dog is free does not make me a bad pet owner or a bad person!
Guess what I let me kids run free too!!
Despite years of research, there've been NO significant advances in reducing non-target captures in Conibear traps. In fact, research shows that for every target animal captured, as many as two other non-target animals can be caught. These traps are difficult to release and pose a public hazard.
Trappers and government officials claim that trapping is “highly regulated” and the gruesome death of dogs is inevitable, therefore acceptable. The reality is that the laws are very lax.
Despite this, official agencies don’t monitor the unintended victims of trapping. But there is someone who does. If you've witnessed an animal caught in a trap, submit a report at www.bornfreeusa.org/trapping report.