BURST
A couple from Radium Hot Springs are bereft after their two-year-old Siberian husky was caught and killed in a trap set at the side of a forest-service road on Crown land.
On Jan. 8 at around noon, Sean Boxall and his dog Moon left their home and drove west along the plowed Horsethief Creek forest service road to Gopher Creek where he planned to go skiing.
Moon, a rescue dog from California, got out of the car and began sniffing around.
“I walked a few metres up the road to assess the ski terrain and decided I’d boot up at my truck and tour up the road,” Boxall said. “As I walked the short distance back to my truck, I noticed a trapline sign partly obscured by overhanging branches, making it barely visible, and Moon climbing the bank beside the road.
“I yelled at him first to come, then ran up the bank to grab him, but it was too late. Just metres from the plowed mainline road and my truck, Moon triggered a freshly baited (body gripping) trap.”
Boxall remains deeply disturbed by what happened next.
Moon wasn’t killed instantly. Instead his throat was crushed and he frantically tried to free himself, tossing and turning in terror in a crouched position.
“I clutched and grabbed the trap, trying with all my life to pry it apart while looking for any release mechanism that could free him,” Boxall said. “At one point, he bit my hand, looking at me and pleading for relief. Panic mode had set in, and I furiously continued to try to pry the trap apart until my hands were torn and my blood flowed out all over me, Moon, and into the snow.”
Boxall ran back to his truck and grabbed a chainsaw that he was able to use to free Moon, who by that time was dead.
“In the last several minutes of Moon’s life, he suffered an atrocious and agonizing death on Crown land in what is considered a legal trap on a government-sanctioned trapline,” Boxall said.
Body-gripping traps are spring-loaded, with bait placed under a trigger that activates a steel jaw. They can be purchased easily online.
Boxall’s partner Nicole Trigg is now leading a campaign in conjunction with the Burnaby-based animal rights group The Fur-Bearers to better regulate the trapping industry in B.C.
“How all this happened is beyond me,” Trigg said. “To lay traps across our nation’s Crown lands indiscriminately decimating wildlife in this cruel, inhumane way while also killing people’s beloved pets in the process, is absolutely dumbfounding.”
Trigg said there are no restrictions on how close a trap can be set to a public road or any rules around warning signage.
“We want to ensure Moon’s death will bring about change to this outdated, horrific, government-subsidized tradition on public land that does not align with modern-day land use,” she said.
According to The Fur-Bearers, dozens of companion animals are caught in traps in Canada every year.
Trigg has launched a letter-writing campaign under the name Moon’s Law aimed at B.C. Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neill that has led to 2,000 letters being sent.
The trapper operating in the area was doing so legally, said the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, which investigated the incident.
“The BCCOS sends its sympathies to the owner for the loss of their pet,” the service said in an email. “People are encouraged to be aware that there are active trapping seasons throughout the winter in various areas of B.C.”
In B.C., a licensed trapper is allowed to kill 17 types of fur-bearing animals, including beaver, bobcat and wolverine. A trapper can pay the government a set rate to keep a pelt or can sell the pelt to a licensed fur trader.
According to the B.C. Trappers Association , there are 2,600 registered traplines in the province and there were 1,800 licences issued in the 2021-22 season. The trapline refers to the area of land the licensed trapper can access. Licensed trappers are allowed to build cabins within their trapline area.
In a statement, the association said body-gripping traps are designed to act quickly when used for target species.
“Outcomes can differ significantly when a non-target species is involved, whose anatomy, behaviour, and interaction with traps differ from the targeted species,” the statement read.
“While by-catch of non-target species can occur, this incident highlights the importance of public awareness and continued education for all land users.”
The association said that dogs should be leashed on Crown land and that trapping is a wildlife management tool.
With files from The Calgary Herald