I just read a sad article.  This story in the Sudbury (Ontario) Star reports on a coyote who had to be euthanized because it was “missing both back legs” from being caught in a trap that was “set improperly and not checked”.

Before you go accusing me of caving in and being a softie, the part I am sad about is not what happened to the wild canine, but rather the way this incident was reported upon and the reaction it garnered.  You have more than likely encountered anti’s in your dealings, across facebook, in real life, wherever.  One thing consistent about them is the absence of facts and the tendency to judge on emotion rather than fact.  This is clearly the case in the article.

You can read it if you want by clicking the link above, but here is the synopsis.  A coyote was allegedly caught in a snare or foothold trap just above both back feet and somehow escaped the confinement by chewing out, evidenced in the fact that it had a foot bone wedged in its mouth.  It was not, as reported, “missing both back legs”, rather it had been missing its feet.  They combed the area looking for this canine and found it huddled under a trailer, gave it a shot to sedate it, took it to the vet where they determined the best course of action was to euthanize it.

There are other things that could have caused this animal to become entrapped other than a snare or trap.  Likely it was a snare or trap but no one knows this for fact.  And if it were a snare or trap this animal had been caught in, who is to say that it was “set improperly and not checked” as reported?  I do not know what the laws in Ontario govern as far as the use of traps or check times.  But it is possible that if it were a snare or trap, it was properly set and properly checked, but the animal had freed itself from it before the time to re-check.

Yet the reaction in the comments section set the anti fire ablaze.  It sounds like they are about ready to form a mob and string up the person that supposedly set this trap.  Comments such as

• “So disgusting ! Ban trap and snare for good ! Ban this cruelty !”

• “why is snaring not banned.”

• “Post the name and address of the p***y cowards who use these traps. Let Karma run it’s course. They would be begging for the chance to chew off their leg”

• “trapping and snaring have no place in todays world. What a disgusting horror that poor animal had to live through, No excuse. This should not be legal”

This is why, fellow trappers, that now more than ever is a time to teach responsibility and act responsible in the field.  It has been harped on a lot, but in order to minimize these occurrences such as the one in Ontario we have to act responsibly.  Follow your check laws, set responsibly, remove your equipment when finished.  The people that write these articles and read these articles are voters like us, and incidents like these fuel the fires of ignorance.

Educate, educate, educate…

-Mark Hajny, Nebraska Fur Harvesters member and NTA Representative