The following table highlights a few examples of trapping
incidents in and around Grant County and southern New Mexico:NOTE: Historically, there has not been any real incentive for trappers in New Mexico to report
the species or number of animals, including "non-target" animals, they capture in their traps.* As a result, there is no way for the state or anyone else to really know how
many dogs, cats, raptors, endangered species and other animals have been
maimed, injured or killed by body-gripping traps in the Gila National
Forest or on other public lands throughout the state. (Source: http://www.bancrueltraps.com/b_nontarget_chart.php)| Date | Victim(s) | Status | Details | Type of Trap | Source | | 01/26/08 | Dog — adult male —
“Rufus” | Died | Silver City, NM — A dog on his usual trail was caught
in a leghold trap.
The dog died quickly after being trapped as the ground was undisturbed,
with a minimal mark on leg from the trap. Rufus died from head trauma —
either hit his own head (unlikely) or was hit in the head by someone.
The trapper had placed 75 traps around a subdivision in the Gila
National Forest. The incident was reported to Game & Fish and to
local law enforcement. The trap owner was found and charged with failure
to check traps in 24 hours. | Leghold | BanCruelTraps online incident report form | | 12/13/05 | Bobcat | Died — euthanized by Game and Fish officials and finding
the right front paw almost severed, making the bobcat impossible to be
rehabilitated and released back into the wild | Silver City, NM
— A local resident found the young adult
bobcat on his 4-acre property, hiding under a bush. On the end of the
chain opposite the trap, the prongs that are designed to secure the trap
had obviously come loose from whatever it had been attached to, and
became hung up in a chain near the man's driveway. A Game and Fish
officer speculated that the bobcat may have been walking down the paved
street, dragging the trap, and spooked by a car darted for the driveway. | Leghold, illegally
set | Silver
City Sun-News, 12/15/05 | | 12/01/05 | Dog — male | Survived — leg was
bleeding, taken to vet | Public land off Hwy 90 just south of the
Continental
Divide, NM — The Tyrone Tramps, a local hiking club, was when one of the
members' dogs was caught in a trap set in the middle of a well used
trail up a dry wash. Another member reported that everyone in the group
was upset by the incident and that the person who was able to free the
dog from the trap angrily threw it into the bushes. | Leghold, illegally set | Silver City
Sun-News, 12/15/05 | | 11/08/05 | Human — female nurse | Survived with minor
injuries to foot | Gila National Forest, NM — The woman was walking in the
forest when her dog stepped into a trap; when she attempted to open that
trap, she stepped into a leghold trap. "I was wearing sandals at the
time, and luckily was able to pull back quickly so the trap only grazed
my toes, drawing some blood, before it clamped onto the end of my
sandal," she said. | Leghold | Silver City Sun-News, 11/17/05 | | 01/00/04 | Dog — German Shepherd
— 2-year-old female | Survived | Grant County, NM — A dog was caught in a steel-jaw
leghold trap set in the Burro Mountains while on a walk with her
caretaker. The trap was set about 200 feet from her home. The caretaker
was unable to remove the trap herself, so with the dog dragging the trap
along, they headed back to her home. The caretaker eventually sought
help from her neighbor in removing the trap. The dog suffered from
swelling and bruising but eventually recovered. | Leghold | Silver City Daily
Press, 07/14/04 | | 02/17/07 | Dog — “Pebbles” | Survived — swelling,
bruising, and broken bones | Tularosa, NM — Pebbles's guardian and a
friend were 5
miles from home off a BLM dirt road heading to an arroyo on horseback
when Pebbles was caught in a leghold trap. Her guardian and friend had
to stand on the trap to open it. Pebbles was in the trap for 15 minutes,
but, writes her guardian, "I would have never gotten that trap off of
my dog's leg if I had been alone." At the time of this holiday weekend
report Pebbles had not yet seen a veterinarian. | Leghold | BanCruelTraps online
incident report form | | 01/24/06 | Dog — Airedale — “Bear” | Survived
with some bruising | Alto, NM — On a
"very busy" trail designated by the
Bureau of Land Management as a hiking/recreation trail leading to the
Rio Bonito petroglyphs, Bear caught his coat and a bit of his flesh in a
leghold trap. Bear ran and lost the trap within one minute, suffering
only mild bruising. The trap was one of nine traps located immediately
off road, 3 to 20 feet from the road edge. Only two traps had faint
4-digit markings and all traps, according to game warden, were of the
illegal type (not offset jaw type). | Leghold | BanCruelTraps online incident report form | | 11/28/04 | Dog
| Survived | NM — A woman
walking her dog on BLM land witnessed the
animal stepping into a leghold trap. The trap caught the dog’s foot and
the woman tried for several minutes to pry the dog free. The woman gave
up on prying open the trap and dug up the trap from the ground and drove
the trapped dog about 30 minutes to a vet. It was there that the dog
was released and has recovered from the incident. | Leghold | Rio Grande Sierra Club | | 04/16/04 | Dog — Blue Heeler | Survived | Gila Forest, NM —
A dog was caught in a trap while
visiting the forest with caretakers. Dog was taken to the vet. Trap was
not marked and there were no signs indicating that traps were set in the
area. | Leghold | Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club | | 05/30/03 | Dog — Golden Retriever | Survived | Burro Mountains, NM
— Accompanied by her 2 dogs, a woman
went riding her horse. One dog got caught in a trap in a canyon. The
woman was unable to remove trap from her dog’s leg and could not break
the chain the trap was attached to. The dog thrashed wildly when the
woman attempted to leave for help, so she stayed with the dog and
released the horse to return home as a distress signal. Help finally
arrived and the dog was taken to the vet. | Leghold | Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club | | 09/20/88 | Dog — “Pardeau” | Survived with bruising | Gila
Wilderness, NM — In this national forest, the trap
was placed on a trail near a campground where people often hiked.
Pardeau was suddenly caught in the trap which was right beside the trail
where people were walking. The woman reporting this incident had to
hold Pardeau while his caregiver struggled to open the trap. Pardeau was
in the trap for half an hour. When freed, he broke loose from the
woman's grasp and in his terror bit her hands. She "was injured worse
than the dog," and at a nearby hospital received five stitches and
treatment for the numerous bites on her hands. | Leghold | BanCruelTraps online
incident report form |
FROM TYRONE, NM:
"My husband and I are both
hunters as well as outdoor enthusiasts. We know the meaning of a clean
kill and the proper use of the meat afterwards. In my mind, the use of
leg-hold traps is neither of the above.
"We recently had an
incident while walking through the Gila Forest. Our Blue Heeler dog got
caught in one of those steel leg-hold traps. Fortunately, I was not
there to hear him scream. However, my husband was and he said it is a
sound that will forever stay with him.
"Luckily, he was able to get
him to the vet immediately and our dog survived… I have had the
opportunity to speak with a rancher, just to see what his side of the
story was. Of course, he was against the banning of any leg-hold traps.
He tells me those coyotes are wily and they are difficult to shoot. So
the only means the rancher has is to use the traps. I have been told the
coyotes are attacking their cattle.
"I might agree with the
rancher as long as he uses them on his private lands. However, the
national forest is not his land. It belongs to all of us. There are far
more people hiking and walking the forest these days because there has
been an influx in population… Traps should be banned."
(Source:
http://newmexico.sierraclub.org/campaigns/trapping/trap_stories.htm)
*In December of 2009, the New Mexico Game Commission voted
unanimously to require trappers to submit a
harvest report to be
eligible to purchase a trapping license for the following year. Under
this new regulation, in late March or early
April 2011, trappers will for the first time need to
file a "harvest report" for the period of April 1, 2010 through April 1,
2011 in order to buy a 2011 license.Prepared
from cited and other sources, January 2010.
Please call the Governor of New Mexico (505-476-2200) and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (505-476-8000) and politely tell them you do not want cruel traps on public lands in New Mexico. Also, you can contact the New Mexico Game Commissioners here. |
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