Calls for more signage after dog's legs get caught in 3 traps

WARNING: This story con‐ tains graphic images of a dog's legs stuck in traps.

Calls for better signage in‐ dicating where traps are lo‐ cated are growing after an‐ other dog in northern B.C., got caught in not one leghold trap, but three.

Alexis Toews had taken her three dogs out for a run along a recreational road where people often run with dogs or enjoy activities like snowmobiling, hiking and quadding - in Kitimat, about 653 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. Knowing it was a popular spot for people and pets, she didn't think there would be any traps in the area.

"I try to take my dogs in places that would be safe and I didn't think anything would be on the side of the road, but there was," she told Daybreak North host Car‐ olina de Ryk.

Her two-year-old dog Vera ran down into the bush and started to yelp. Toews discov‐ ered her pet was caught in a leg-hold trap.

Toews is well aware of trapping practices; her part‐ ner is a trapper, and she's knowledgeable about the types of traps, how they work and where they are typically found.

She says she ran to her car and grabbed some tools to try to free Vera.

She came back to find that her dog had another foot caught in a separate trap, and a third trap had be‐ come connected to the first one.

When she was unsuccess‐ ful in removing them, Toews called the RCMP. When they couldn't get the traps off, they called the fire depart‐ ment, which had to use spe‐ cial equipment to remove the traps.

Now, Toews has joined the growing call for trappers to put up more, and better, sig‐ nage to alert people to dan‐ gerous traps in the area, es‐ pecially in places where trap‐ ping and recreation may overlap.

"Every year dog owners call for more signage and that's basically all I can ask for," she said.

"I realize that trap lines can be anywhere. They can be along recreational path, they can be on private prop‐ erty. So to control where they're set is a bit more diffi‐ cult, I think, than just letting the public know that they're there until those changes are made."

Calls for mandatory signs

Vera's story comes just after the story of Pearl, a working dog near Fort St. John - about 550 kilometres to Kitimat's northeast - who lost her leg after being stuck in a leg-hold trap for several days. Vera didn't lose any limbs as a re‐ sult of her incident, but she will be healing for an unde‐ termined amount of time.

"I'm just glad that she's alive," Toews said.

An open letter has been sent by the advocacy group The Fur-Bearers to Premier David Eby calling for trapping reforms, which includes mandatory signs near active traps.

"Residents of British Co‐ lumbia shouldn't fear going for walks with their dogs," Fur-Bearers executive direc‐ tor Lesley Fox said in a news release.

"There is no way to know if a casual walk with your family's best friend will end in a horrifying tragedy - de‐ spite clear, simple solutions that could prevent it."

Trapping is regulated in B.C. According to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, about 3,500 trappers are active in the province.

In an email to CBC earlier this week, the ministry said it has given support for volun‐ tary signage and is consider‐ ing other ways to reduce the chances of pets being caught in traps, adding that those who illegally set traps or don't take the required train‐ ing for trapping may be fined.

The trapping section of the B.C. Wildlife Act says warning signs "should be used to inform people of trapping activities."