What was supposed to be an idyllic walk in the country turned into a nightmare for a pair of women when one of their dog’s was caught and killed in a snare meant for coyotes.
Finding her friend’s dog dead a short distance from her home has a DeWinton woman shaken and taking extra measures to make sure nothing happens to her own dogs.
Talyn Bos said a friend from Calgary came over to her rural rental home Feb. 26 so the two of them could explore the extensive property with their dogs.
When her friend arrived she let the dogs out of the truck and they ran off. A few minutes later they went looking for the dogs and that is when Bos discovered the dogs eating from a pile of meat and carcasses.
One of the dogs was dead.
“I found Lala,” Bos said, referring to her friend’s Alaskan Husky, named Alaska, but nicknamed Lala. “I started panicking and screaming. I didn’t register what was happening.”
The dog was tangled in some wire and had some in its mouth. Bos said as she started untangling the wire, she realized it was wrapped around the dog’s neck.
“I was in pure and utter shock,” she said. “I couldn’t understand, why, how.”
Bos also started to worry that the meat that had been left out could have been poisoned so she and her friend began rounding up the other dogs and taking them back to her friends vehicle.
That is when they realized another dog was caught in a snare. They were able to get the uninjured dog free.
Ella Wright is the owner of the dogs caught in the snares. She said it was an extremely traumatic incident.
“It was tragic,” Wright said. “It was the worst thing I have ever gone through.”
Wright is a dog trainer and walker and has as many as 10 dogs. She said she had a dog get stuck in a leg hold trap once before when walking on private land and said she will no longer take her dogs out for walks on private property.
In that instance, they were able to get the trap off the dog’s leg.
She said the most recent incident was particularly troubling that the trap was set so close to Bos’ home, said Wright.
Bos said the snare was set just down the road next to a fence, less than a minutes’ walk from her front door.
She contends that the snare was set on her side of the fence line, but said it would be expensive to prove.
She said she called the RCMP, Alberta Fish and Wildlife, the Report a Poacher line and MD bylaw, but found out that snaring coyotes is legal.
“I’d like to petition the council to change the laws and protect animals and people,” she said, adding snares should not be allowed in close proximity to where people and their pets live.
Alberta solicitor general spokesperson Brendan Cox said it is rare for a dog to get stuck in a trap meant for wild animals.
“This is a very unfortunate incident, and our thoughts are certainly with the dog’s owner,” Cox said. “In cases like this, officers take action to determine whether the snares or traps were laid lawfully, including whether or not the person who laid the traps has a valid licence. In this case, officers have confirmed that the trapper has a lawful licence, and that legal snares were used. The snares were set for coyotes, and coyote season was open at the time of this incident.”
The only infraction that may have happened is if the traps were set on the property where Bos lives, Cox said, but she would have to prove that is the case.
“While it is unlawful to lay traps on another’s property without permission, it is unclear exactly where the boundary between these two properties lies, and on whose property this particular snare was laid,” he said. “In order for charges to be sworn, a survey notice would be required showing that the area where the snare was set was crossing over the boundary between the two properties.”
It is unusual to hear of dog becoming stuck in a trap meant for wild animals, Cox said.
“It is very rare for pets to be caught in traps set for fur-bearing animals,” he said. “If possible, we encourage trappers to let their neighbours know if they plan to set traps along their property line, and we also encourage dog owners to do what they can to ensure their dog does not roam freely.”
Bos believes if a person got stuck in the snare, the response by authorities would be much different.
“I hate how pets are viewed as property and not as family,” Bos said. “People would be freaking out if a child had been stuck in there.”
The neighbour who set the trap did not want to comment.
