My dog just got her leg stuck in some asshole's trap!

[digonswine]

Every day I take my dogs down the road to the large culvert that directs a stream under the road.
Today, my petite cattle dog starts screaming holy hell. I get down by the water and she has her paw in a trap, bleeding, and her mouth bleeding.
I got her out with little damage and I was pissed off greatly.
Indignant, I went home to check the trapping regs----Perfectly legal in WI to trap within a few feet of a culvert running under a public road!
I downloaded the DNR pdf of the Wisconsin trapping regs, and on the cover was some goat-fucking redneck with his 4 year old daughter proudly displaying an otter "they" had trapped.
This is family values for some.

Not only is my dog hurt, but this unknown fuck is keeping me from swimming my dogs just off the road.

I always hated trapping, but after the pitiful display my dog submitted, these animals clearly die a death filled with pain and fear.

Fuck you assholes that think this is OK. Fuck you.

[KelleyD]

1. Can you get him to stop, ie, report him?

[digonswine]

2. I don't know who it is-

I always thought that trappers needed to tag their traps(name, address, etc) but there were no tags and I saw no such requirements in the regulations I found.
He(surely a he) is apparently not violating any laws. I was flabbergasted.

Some prick can hold this area hostage to his own little torture ground fetish hobby, apparently.

[dhol82]

4. can you remove his trap?

not sure what the regulations might be but - hell, can't you just pull the trap and dump it?

[1monster]

6. Every morning, spring the trap, then let your dogs have their swim...

It might be illegal (theft) to take the trap away, but if you spring it, you will be doing your part to stop this person. If the trap is always sprung, it won't catch any animals, and the trapper may just give up that area.

[Lefta Dissenter]

7. +1,000

[digonswine]

17. Good plan-

I am pretty sure it is illegal to mess with traps, but I wouldn't be stealing them or anything.

[easychoice]

13. Posession

Is 9 points of the law.If it is in your posession it is yours.Remove it and dispose of it.
Leg trapping is horrible,sometimes the Opossum or Racoons will chew their foot off to get out of the jaws.That leaves a wild 3 legged injured animal to try and survive.All the while starving slowly until they meet their demise from failure to forage or defend themselves as if they were able.I can't imagine anything more cruel.I am an old farm boy and I have seen that of which I speak.
Remove,disable and dispose of the trap!

[Hoyt]

3. Some people just don't care to live in a civilized world.

Lots s of things may be legal, but irresponsible and crappy.

Hope your buddy is doing OK.

[digonswine]

21. Thanks-she's OK.

I honestly do not get the mindset. It must be an inability to empathize.

[BarbaRosa]

5. When found, move those traps

to where nobody will ever find them.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Couple of facts that occur to me: 1. The trap has no name on it. 2. I'm guessing it is on . . . . .

. . . . . public property. Spring it. Toss it as far as you can. Then go toss it even further.

I agree with you. I would be enraged too. Trapping is just plain brutal.

[digonswine]

18. That was my first reaction,

but I decided against it. We are very isolated out here and it would be fairly obvious who did it. I don't really trust a person who tortures animals to handle conflicts rationally.

[avebury]

9. I am so sorry for your poor baby.

I have never actually seen one of those types of traps. Is it possible to take one apart? If so I would take the necessary tools and take it apart and leave it in pieces (making sure that one of the necessary parts disappeared for good). Using gloves would make sure that no fingerprints were left behind.

If you didn't want to go that route, you might want to consider removing the trap and leaving a note where it could be collected and then tell the idiot that you will not return it until he pays for any vet bills for your injured baby.

[eridani]

10. Geez--it's not like it's 300 years ago and you had to do this stuff to eat, or womething n/t

[chuckrocks]

11. I would bury it.

[Warpy]

12. Did you grab some rocks and smash the trap?

I sure as hell would have.

Leghold traps are banned in a lot of states. They need to be banned in all of them.

[digonswine]

22. I dismantled the setup-

and was going to pitch it but decided to hold back for now. As angry as I was, the thought of irrational yokels causing me more problems dissuaded me. It is possible to find out who it is and ask him to move the traps.

[newfie11]

24. I would have taken the trap

We still have the one that our dog stepped in and the owner never asked for it back.

[digonswine]

29. I looked-the trap my dog stepped in is gone,

but there is another one there, and in an illegal spot--too close to the culvert. I might just do something with it.

[Warpy]

31. The trap owner loses enough of them

and maybe he'll put them elsewhere.

They never complain about smashed or missing traps. They know they'll get presented with big vet bills if they do.

[digonswine]

32. I just went to the area again-

this asshole put his traps too close to the culvert AND did not have his name on the traps.
Aside from the cruelty aspect, what pisses me off the most is that these people can do this legally and if your dog is caught in the thing or gets hurt, it's your problem. So they can legally do something that has potential to harm loved ones, with, what appears to be, no legal recourse-at least in WI. This amounts to, as I see it, them having superior rights to mine involving legal use of public lands.
In other words-their use causes harm and mine does not. It is similar to 4-wheelers in the National Forests. I can hike and make not a sound and leave no trace, but they ruin others' enjoyment of the outdoors and leave a great trace.
I guess I would feel like a tremendous fuckhead behaving that way--but I suspect their impact on others never enters their tiny minds.

[digonswine]

36. Just as a follow-up

His traps are legal, he called the DNR, wondering why his traps had been handled. He thought another torturer, oops, trapper, may have absconded with his rightful quarry.
The DNR guy was nice.
The fact is, what I think of trapping means jack-shit. The "rights" belong to the guy with the traps. Too fucking bad for me and my dogs.

We will get there.

[JoeyT]

14. Since it's on public property,

spring the trap with a stick and chuck it into the culvert or into the water. Let the asshole try to fish it back out.

[jtuck004]

15. I would take any traps I can find (may well be more than one) and perhaps leave a sign

with a phone number of where they are at. Then serve them with your already prepared lawsuit for damages to the dog when they come to pick them up, though you should probably have a video record - and some help, just in case.

Or, can you do surveillance and catch who set it?

Because while it is legal, that doesn't relieve them of negligence, and even if it does paying you $500 (for your dog and your lawyer) might cost them more than fighting it

I know it will cost more, and you might not have the money, but I'm just thinking about how to make it more expensive for them.

Or maybe NOT. They might come back and poison your dog, so maybe just making the traps disappear is enough. - note - don't take them to your property, but do drive them out of the area, maybe to a town dumpster. And if they show up to ask, say you saw a blue pickup with a couple of guys, took a really big animal out, left, figured it was theirs. "Guess it is now, eh?"

If they leave more, maybe you can spot them, give it a couple days, and those guys in the blue pickup might come back. Don't leave footprints.

How is your dog? Was the blood on her muzzle from trying to bite the trap?

[digonswine]

19. I think the blood was from biting the trap-

she is OK-the paw is sore, so we got lucky.
My plan is to try to talk to the person to see if they will move the traps further down the stream. I don't even like talking to people like that, though.

[jtuck004]

26. Well, I'm glad she's ok.

But, you know, they might like dogs, and showing her limping because of the trap they set, and telling them how much she enjoys that little piece of real estate might encourage them to move them. If nothing else, maybe they could flag them (I suspect beaver or whatever won't be spooked) so you will know when danger is near.

But I'm glad nothing was broken...

[Tsiyu]

16. When I was a kid those were all in the Upstate NY woods

We sprung every one we could find. They are a pretty brutal way to get game or pelt animals.

We bow hunted and even we knew as kids those steel jaws were bad for pets and wild animals alike.


Sorry about your puppy.

[digonswine]

20. Thanks-she'll be fine-

as I said above, I think for now just springing them while I am in the area is a good way to go.

[newfie11]

23. That happened to us when we lived in Northern MI

Only the trap was on OUR property and our dog had to have her toe amputated. The name of the trap owner was on the trap. We called the DNR and all they did is tell him not to trap on private property. We had signs everywhere.

Trapping is HORRIBLE and should be outlawed everywhere.

[Tsiyu]

27. I would be so pissed

What if a small child had stumbled upon it?

Those traps can snap really violently and fast. Anyone placing them on private property is a tool.

Really, anyone who decides to use those type traps - unless they are hideously poor - is a Class A Tool.

[digonswine]

30. Awful-

Not even a slap on the wrist. I'm in north central WI BTW.

[sinkingfeeling]

25. Don't the traps have to have id tags? If so, trace it back to the owner and

demand compensation for your dog's injury.

[Heliman]

28. sorry about your dog

that sucks and I totally understand your frustration. but anyone who is trashing that guy and ownes a fur coat is a hypocrite. and why are trappers now goat fuckers and/rednecks? Family values? well in a natural disaster those goat fuckers will be trapping to feed themselves rather than looting your house. fyi.

[get the red out]

38. Sorry

People who trap are nothing but ignorant trash, redneck and goat fucker would be a complement for a guy like this.

[Walk away]

40. Bullshit. I don't know anyone who has a fur coat anymore but most animals for fur...

are farm raised in this country. Trapping is stupidly dangerous and ridiculously cruel. And you admire these folks because they strew these dangerous torture devises around our woodlands instead of looting my home???? You are making a really good case for calling them knuckle dragging/rednecks who don't care about other people's children or pets.

[Curmudgeoness]

33. I cannot imagine how you felt

when you heard your dog screaming. Or how your dog felt having the trap on her leg. I am so glad she is ok.

I have only seen one of those traps once, and I took a stick and tripped it. I would do it again if I saw one. I agree that getting into a pissing match with someone who could do this is scary, and possibly dangerous, but I know that I would still trip them. I would have to for my own conscience.

[digonswine]

34. Thank you-

it seemed like she was screaming for a long time, but I suspect it was only less than 30 seconds. As she was stuck and panicking, I shouted "I got it, I got it!" She was biting at the trap, making it difficult to free her. Finally, after what was probably only 5 seconds, I reached in to do it, taking a nice bite from her. Despite the stress of the situation, a bit of me was outside myself finding it truly ridiculous that I was trying to reason with my dog, insisting that I would get her out.

The trap she was in is gone-the one on the other side I did trip tonight, letting them swim as they like. Both were placed illegally, as I now know. But only by 2 feet or so, and without owner's tags. They might go away tomorrow!

Zippy is back to normal-rolled in shit tonight, necessitating a bath--all is well!

[Curmudgeoness]

35. That is heartbreaking.

I know that time seems to go so slow when you have to act fast. Glad that crazy dog is doing fine now.

[get the red out]

37. A dog was killed by a trap in a park here in Kentucky

The owner was walking her on her leash and SNAP, her dog was dead. It was illegal for that idiot to trap in the park, but I'm sure he got a slap on the wrist. The police made him take them to the traps for removal though, I'd bet a piece of shit like that will just set up again though. Many people pointed out at the time that it could have been a child killed in the trap since this was not a tiny dog, she was 40 - 50 lbs, if I recall, so that was a hell of a trap.

I hate this kind of hatefulness, trapping is insane, almost no place is unpopulated enough for trapping to not be absolutely dangerous for domestic animals and humans alike.