Search Trapping Incidents Database

CLALLAM COUNTY, WA — A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officer rescued an illegally trapped bald eagle in Clallam County and set them free. WDFW says they received a call in November of a person’s dog that became trapped in a steel-jawed leghold trap. The owners were able to rescue their dog, but called to report that a bald eagle was stuck in another trap nearby. An officer arrived shortly after and found the eagle, immobilized them, and released them from the trap. According to WDFW, the eagle had no injuries. WDFW officers seized additional illegal traps from the area, and an investigation led them to a suspect living in the area, who admitted to setting up the traps, which included steel-jawed traps and wire snares to capture and kill two coyotes.

TETONIA, ID – Sugar was trapped and killed by an illegally set Conibear type trap in Tetonia, Idaho. She was a beautiful 10-month-old King Shepherd. The owner’s husband took Sugar out for a walk at the Tetonia Rodeo Grounds, a popular area for walking dogs and cross country skiing. The Conibear trap was set on public land near walking areas. The owner’s husband desperately tried to free Sugar, but could not release the trap from around her neck. The owners’ neighbor, who teaches hunting safety courses, went back with the owners to recover Sugar’s body. Together, these two men could not free her, so they had to cut the red nylon rope tie-down and carried her body to his garage where he had to use two vises to finally remove the trap. There were no ID tags on the traps and no trapping permits issued in the area. Fish and Game found an empty can of Spam used to bait the three illegal traps. The incident is currently under investigation by Idaho Fish and Game Department.

BUFORD, WY – A couple’s dog was trapped by a snare at the Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming, near a popular campground and climbing area. They parked along the Middle Crow Creek in Vedauvoo to ice skate in the area. They had pulled off the road at Middle Crow Creek, east of the road, right at a well-traveled parking spot to skate around on the ice. Their dog was caught right in the bushes on the north edge of the creek almost as soon as they arrived. It may have been 30-40 feet from the road. The snare caught his two front paws. They were able to release him without injury. A warden investigated the traps after the incident; apparently, there were still snares in the area when the couple left, but the snares were all set legally. This was the third trapping incident in Vedauwoo Recreational area this winter season.

DONEGAL, Pa. — Daniel Bogey said that he made a last-minute decision to check one of his properties in Donegal when he came across two dogs stuck in animal traps in the middle of a frigid, fast-moving stream. He said that if he hadn’t shown up, the two dogs would likely be dead. “I heard this awful howling and yelping, and I thought it was a pack of coyotes,” he said. “That water was freezing cold. You wouldn’t even want to stand in it. That dog was probably in that water for well over an hour,” Bogey said. He immediately called state police troopers and it took nearly three hours to get the dogs to safety. They were able to put blankets over them to help them start warming up.

Idaho Senator Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, with friends, and their dogs decided to take a New Year’s walk on a county road in an area where families look for Christmas trees or snowshoe, backcountry ski, hike, bike and fish. “We were about four miles from my truck when we heard a horrible scream from my Golden Retriever,” Stennett said. “He was on the right of way just off the road slashing at something on the ground. Our hearts sank as we saw his leg was in a white self-proclaimed X-treme Wolf Trap.” The trap, which weighed about 10 pounds, was attached to a heavy chain leading to a large anchor in the frozen ground.

BUFORD, WY – A dog barely escaped a snare in the Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming, near a popular campground and climbing area. There were several snares remaining in the area at the time of the incident report. The owner and his dog hiked in this area weekly, but the owner had never known that traps and snares exist along the trails. On this day, they came across a series of snares about 20 yards off of Road 701E (about a quarter mile in from Happy Jack Road). Laramie WGFD was notified but did not investigate.

FREMONT COUNTY, WY – A 5-year-old border collie named Sheba was caught in a leghold trap while walking with her owner, who was on horseback, in the Tunnel Hill area located in Fremont County, Wyoming. The incident occurred on BLM public land. Suddenly during the walk, Sheba starting yelping.  Her owner was able to jump off his horse and release her foot from the trap.  Luckily, there was no significant injury. WGFD was notified immediately, and an investigation is underway.

AZTEC, NM — It isn’t unusual for James Stackhouse’s husky, Ivy, to disappear for a couple minutes while they are out hiking. She’s never out of sight for long and, at first, he didn’t think much about her absence as they were hiking near Lake Farmington on Nov. 14. Stackhouse said he whistled for Ivy and heard her scream. The two-year-old dog had been attracted by a deer carcass and ended up trapped in a leg trap.

A resident from the Mid-Gunflint Trail area contacted WTIP recently to share the details of an incident about their pet getting caught in a leg-hold trap set near Poplar Lake. The owner stated that she was walking with her dog along a remote Forest Service road that was obvious many others had hiked, biked, hunted, skied, snowmobiled and four-wheeled on recently and she heard her dog wrestling with something, crying out in pain. She backtracked up the hill to find the dog’s paw caught in a leg hold trap that was set in the grass near the road. The trap and was invisible to her as she walked by. A conversation with two Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officers revealed that her dog was the third such case to have been caught in a leg hold trap that week.

An animal rights group is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest after a 5-month-old coyote became ensnared in an illegal trap in Swampscott, Massachusetts, and had to be euthanized. The coyote was found emaciated with a broken jaw days after getting caught in a Duke #160 Trap, which is illegal in Massachusetts, near Tedesco Country Club. Officials say wild coyotes frequent the area.

A golfer first spotted the animal with the trap on his face, Animal Control Officer Dan Proulx said Wednesday. The young male coyote suffered for about a week after getting caught in the trap and wandered the woods until was he tracked down by Proulx.