Dog caught in trap dies

[misticaleclipse]

This poor dog, in the head :(

Pet Dog Killed by Trap
Doug Hallett, Guelph
(Dec 15, 2006)

City police say they know who put out a steel leg trap that killed a dog being walked in a leash-free area of the Hanlon Park Trail on Wednesday.

The Jack Russell terrier died when his head was caught in the trap by a fence about 10 feet from the trail, behind an industrial property in the Hanlon Business Park, police said.

On Thursday, police were able to identify the person responsible for putting out the trap, said Guelph Police Sgt. Ron Lord.

The person was not identified by police.

Police are working with the Ministry of Natural Resources to determine what charge or charges might be laid, and the incident remains under investigation, Lord said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is responsible for regulating hunting and trapping in the province.

The terrier named Harper was one of two pet dogs owned by Tara Szczygiel, said her aunt, Karen Reid, who was there when it happened. Reid's two dogs and Szczygiel's two were "all having a great time" sniffing around the trail when Harper ran off towards a fence.

"Then we heard a dreadful sound and we thought maybe he had a bird," Reid told the Tribune.

Instead, they went over and saw Harper's neck was in the trap.

"He was trying to catch his breath, and we knew he was going to die," she said.

She ran off and found a couple of industrial workers to help. But by the time they got back Harper was dead, with the trap still around his neck.

Szczygiel, a canine training and behaviour specialist who runs a business called Flying Dog out of space in an Aberfoyle pet store, said Wednesday that the incident was "a total shock" but that she didn't want to comment further.

Lord said the trap was tethered to a log and positioned in a gap under a fence behind Poly Nova Technologies Inc., 125 Southgate Dr. The trail runs parallel to the business park on the east side of the Hanlon Parkway.

There are no city bylaws related to trapping, a city hall official said Thursday.

Lord said charges could be laid under Ministry of Natural Resources regulations. Criminal code charges such as cruelty to animals or mischief were also a possibility, he said.

"I am absolutely shocked that anyone would think of setting a trap in a trail area that is regularly visited by kids and pets," said Jane McCamus, general manager of the Guelph Humane Society.

"A young kid, not knowing what it is, could have stuck an arm in there and been seriously injured," she said in an interview Thursday.

Leghold traps "cut off circulation and damage your whole limb," she said. They are hard to open, and a person whose arm is caught in one likely wouldn't be able to get it off without assistance.

McCamus said she hadn't heard of any other local incidents like this one. "To the best of my knowledge to date, this is an isolated incident."

Reid said Szczygiel had owned Harper and Hero, a black Lab, for years. "These dogs are her babies."

She said that when she returned after getting help early Wednesday afternoon, Szczygiel had managed to get the trap out of the fence but hadn't been able to get the trap off Harper's neck. "I was running towards her and she was carrying Harper . . . she said he was dead."

Nearby construction workers eventually got the trap off Harper's neck, and the trap was turned over to police, Reid said.


found here (http://www.guelphtribune.ca/trib/news/news_683574.html)

[MafiaPrincess]

Paper fails to mention that it's a company adjacent to the park who put out the traps.. and there are MORE still out there. They didn't lay out just one....

[skyeboxer]

A company? Dear god! Terrible about the poor dog. If a child had caught it's leg and bled to death they'd have a murder charge to deal with. How can a company justify doing anything like this?

[AnimalLoverCatRescuer]

Something like that just happened here right down the street from me:

Dog killed in Kent by steel trap Hidden in bucket of sardines in culvert
December 22, 2006

By Deborah Guziak
Record-Courier staff writer

A dog was killed Wednesday after a steel trap hidden in a bucket of sardines sprung around its neck.

The dog, a 40-pound labrador mix, was being walked by its owner, Tracy Wallach. The dog was on a leash, and died quickly after the trap was sprung. Wallach did not return a call to her home.

The bucket was next to a culvert on property in the 900 block of Marvin Drive, said Eric Dreger, an officer with the Kent Police Department.

"It's a body-gripping trap, and not one you'd step in," Dreger said, adding the person who set the trap may be interested in the pelt of a raccoon.

Because of the trap's location and the fact that it was not found on personal property, Dreger does not think it was a person dealing with a nuisance problem. The trap was about 6 inches across when unsprung.

According to a Web site about body grip traps, the traps are used to capture mink, raccoon, beaver, coyote, groundhog, muskrat and bobcat, and are used by hunters interested in the pelts since the trap does not damage it. The site did not state how many pounds of pressure the trap applies to an animal when it is sprung.

Hunting in Kent is illegal, Dreger said. The owner's name and contact information was not on the trap, which is required by law.