Andrea Rosebrock 
One lucky dog survived two week being trapped in a snare, horrific injuries but a strong spirit and will to survive brought Joey home after pretty much everyone had given up on her. The lesson that Shelly Criqui would like to be learned here is that if you’re a trapper and you’re going to set snares, take the responsibility to check your trap rather than to leave an animal, any animal, to suffer cruelly and heedlessly.
Needless to say, I don’t like trap and snares, they cause great suffering but when they are legal and set legally, there’s not a whole lot someone can do about them. But I agree with that people need to take responsibility. In many areas, more rural areas especially, dogs do roam and run loose. In this case, these two dogs, Casey and his mother Joey, didn’t “belong” to anyone but were cared for and loved.
Where I live in WI, in the rural areas, I see this all the time. Farm dogs, they are working dogs, they have shelter, warm barns, plenty of food but their job is to roam the farm and protect the livestock. They are not your pampered house dogs and most of the ones I have seen, are happy and healthy. We may not necessarily agree with this but this is what these dogs were bred for and you can trust me, these dogs would not be happy stuck in a house, they live to run and roam and work.
Should these dogs, or any dog, even an unlucky stray, be subject to the carelessness of an irresponsible trapper? This story has a “happy” ending, Joey will survive, but how many don’t? How many aren’t found until it’s far too late. There are kinds of traps which are not as “kind,” if you can even use that word, as snares, which do give an animal half a chance if found.
Maybe it’s time for some kind of legislation to force trappers to be more responsible. If is it going to remain legal to trap, what is wrong with instituting some guidelines? I can think of quite a few things but am going to stop here, I’m sure you’ll all have some ideas too, share them but remember, whether you like trapping or not, and I am sure you, as I, probably don’t, that in many areas it is completely legal and unless that can be changed, the changes need to address the responsibilty of the trapper.
I believe there are laws that mandate checking of traps every so many days…not sure what that is or if it varies from state to state, but it may be possible that this guy can be charged for not checking his traps often enough. Maybe it cannot be proved as to how long the dog was actually in the trap though. I definitely am against trapping though – it does seem like a cruel death.
Hi Everybody and Debbie I could not agree more about traps they need to be checked if not I think they should make traps that if they are not reset then they should open because that is no way for man or animals to die and I’m sure it could be done for a few bucks each not a lot of money ……jeffrey
Yes, I agree Deanna, traps are horrible cruel gadgets to make animals suffer more than kill them. I hope there are no traps around the ranch I keep my horses at. Our dear friend that runs this ranch has the exact dogs you described. They work (and work hard), guard anything and everything around this large ranch (lots of acres), and , yes, they stay outside and have shelters, 24/7, 365 days a year. They are very well fed and very loved. I felt bad for them at first and now realize, they would not be happy any other way. This is their way of life. I know I would feel horrible if I found one of these sweet baby’s caught in a stupid trap! Isn’t there a way we can outlaw them? Isn’t there an alternative to trapping? Hopefully not something stupid, like poisioning. What can we, as animal lovers, do to help this situation?
This is an unfortunate and all too common story. Pets and wildlife are caught and subjected to torture in traps everyday. Occasionally even children have fallen victim to these cruel traps while playing in local woods. While trappers are required to check traps, the regulations vary state to state and are often far too long. The horrific truth with snares, is that they are considered a killing trap and as such reguire very infrequent checking, often 21 days is the standard. The trapping industry figures an animal will strangle to death very quickly, but clearly this isn’t always the case.
The good news is trapping is declining, and hopefully we will see an end to this cruel endevour soon.
People can put pressure on their local goverments to ban these cruel traps, but in the meantime keep your dogs and loved ones close and be aware of the dangers that are out there.