Two-legged dog becomes symbol of trapping dispute
Published Sunday, July 13, 2008
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PALMER -- Andre the two-legged dog was rescued last winter when a woman noticed the animal trailing blood across a country road.
The large, friendly mutt lost most of the lower half of his left legs after getting caught in an animal trap or snare.
Now, the black and brown canine has become a symbol in Alaska for what pet owners and animal lovers say is a gruesome and growing problem: pets accidentally caught in traps and snares meant for wild animals.
The problem, animal owners and advocates say, is increasing as more people move into and use areas of Alaska that were once wild.
But the problem is not new. Tension between dog owners and trappers has been percolating in Alaska for decades, said Cliff Judkins, chairman of the Alaska Board of Game.
"I don't know what the long-term answer is to it really. The Board of Game is caught in the middle between two groups," he said. "This thing has been going on for a long, long time."
Karen McNaught, of Palmer, nursed Andre back to health, although she initially didn't think he would make it.
"No one had seen a dog with two legs cut off like that," she said. "The bone was sticking out on both of them. It was horrible."
Now, Andre bounces around her back yard like a Pogo-Stick. When tired, he leans against the house or the fence. The plan is to fit him with artificial legs.
Merle Jean Muller's dog, Bo Diddley, was luckier. The 52-year-old woman's 100-pound mixed breed stepped on a trap about 10 feet off a trail near the fast-growing area of Palmer in December.
Muller got Bo Diddley out of the trap. She then took the trap, left the trapper a nasty note and reported the incident to the Alaska Board of Fish and Game. She also organized a letter-writing campaign.
"If it was up to me trapping would not be allowed," she said. "It has to be restricted from places where people recreate and live. That is a no-brainer to me."
What happened next shocked Muller. She was charged with stealing the trap, hindering lawful trapping and criminal mischief. The charges were later dropped.
"It was so outrageous," she said. "This was not about me taking an $8 trap. This was about me saying 'Hey, this is not OK.'"
The Alaska Board of Game heard plenty of complaints from trappers last year after it approved restrictions requiring that traps and snares be placed 50 yards off trails and trailheads in Chugach State Park.
That move came after the game board approved trapping wolverines in the nearly half-million-acre state park near Anchorage. Warning signs about trapping are posted near trailheads and trails, but dogs are not required to be leashed in the park
Two dogs were caught in wolverine sets — the same as the number of wolverines, said Rick Sinnott, Anchorage area wildlife biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. One of the dogs died.
The park is proposing that the board approve a 100-yard buffer on each side of designated trails and prohibit traps and snares within a half-mile of trailheads and developed facilities, said chief ranger Matt Wedeking.
"The restrictions are necessary to provide for public safety," he said.
The Alaska Trappers Association produced a video a few years ago to help educate the non-trapping public on how to recognize a trap line and release a dog if caught, said association president Randy Zarnke.
"There are irresponsible dog owners and there are irresponsible trappers," Zarnke said. "Dogs that are not under the control of a human, that is a violation right there. It is easy to criticize the trapper but the dog owner is at least partially at fault."
Zarnke said trappers and dog owners need to practice common sense.
The association doesn't want to see a statewide regulation restricting where traps and snares can be set, because that would only encourage the anti-trapping forces to push for more, Zarnke said.
___
On the Net:
Trapper Association: http://alaskatrappers.org/
Chugach State Park: http://tinyurl.com/6b95c7
Board of Game: http://tinyurl.com/5bpshs
Community Discussion
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If people are going to trap in my opinion. being a long time Alaskan and a trapper myself at one time. Trapping should not be allowed near communities where people are likely to be walking their dogs and I see it commonly done as well as setting up bear bait stations right near the edge of trails too where hikers and bikers need to pass by.
I myself have a number of dogs I take with me on walks and I prefer they run free for proper excersize. My dogs are always within a close circumference around me since they are Chesapeake Bay Retrievers they really don't care to go too far from me because they always want to be very near their person, but I know people with dogs that run way ahead of them or into the woods and I don't allow my dogs to do that. I am always afraid there might be a snare and I won't know they were caught as I wouldnt hear them probably if they were fighting it to get away and choking. That to me would just be the most awful thing so I always keep my dogs within my eyesight at all times. So there shouldnt really be any excuses for dogs getting caught in traps or snares if this was religiously practiced.
My opinion is this, first of all, people need to train their dogs to always be right near them at all times not off in the bushes etc. this would prevent their dogs from being trapped or snared. They need to train their dogs to respond to recall so that just a word and the dog runs back to them even with tempting baits dragging them off the trail.
However.. that said, people that trap shouldnt be putting traps near communities where people like to walk with their dogs either.
And for the places where they ARE more remote.. people that walk dogs should be aware that where ever there is a TRAIL there could be traps and snares as well. Its just the Alaskan culture. If you want to keep your dogs safe..keep them NEXT to you at all times no matter where you are. If I can do it with 9 dogs surely owners have no excuse for 1 or 2.
And then there are the folks that insist on letting their dogs roam away from home. Their attitude is that "their dogs don't harm anyone or anything and love to play with the next door neighbors dogs"
well then that is a choice you make for your dog. If it doesnt come or home or ends up in a trap or snare who's fault is that in the end? Dogs should NOT be allowed off their own property line and if you cant keep it home..then restrain it. If you don't believe in restraining methods then you shouldnt own a dog then.
I also do not feel that traps should be allowed near any trails where they are being 'set' unless its quite a ways off the trail at least 100 ' this will help hikers who enjoy wilderness trails in remote areas and all TRAILS should be MARKED stating that traps are being used on the trail system for Dog owners to Be aware.
After that its all that can be done.
Kathy Olding
Tok, Alaska
Follow the law. In the North Star Borough there is a leash law if the dog is off your property. Go outside of the borough into a unincorporated area if you want fiddo to run free or use the doggie park. Stop telling people to break the law.
It's not just traps and unleashed pet can face. There are also bears and vehicles. Someone on a four wheeler or snow machine can run over your pet on a path. It's better to be safe than go through the pain of losing a pet. It you want a place for them to run put in a chain link fence in your yard.
If people would use common sense and obey the law, this wouldn't be an issue. Irresponsible pet owners and trappers make Alaska unsafe for pets.
I've never met a responsible trapper and doubt I ever will. The barbarian mentality it takes to take part in this activity precludes any type of responsibility.
Imusuallyright you are, as usual, wrong.
Most trappers, the law abiding kind, provide a valuable and free service to the state of alaska that saves millions of dollars.
For a quick example, the construction about 45 miles down CHSR was necessatated by beavers. They dammed the culverts, flooded the road and caused a washout. F&G tried to trap them, encouraged trappers to set huts near the road and the end result is there hasn't been another washout on CHSR.
What? That example is supposed to make me think trappers are good people? It actually makes them sound more like opportunists than anything.
See you at the next PETA pet euthanizing rally then.
Well, that kind of speaks volumes for you P. Anybody else want to try and convince me that trapping isn't a barbaric practice?
If people want to be barbarians and trap, then they should do it far away from public trails. Ask any vet in town and they'll tell you that they've seen trapped dogs who were on leashes. Trapping in FNSB really needs to be addressed...it's totally out of control.
See pupster, most don't want to be inconvenienced. Reference the big stink they made when asked to do just that: "The Alaska Board of Game heard plenty of complaints from trappers last year after it approved restrictions requiring that traps and snares be placed 50 yards off trails and trailheads in Chugach State Park."
The problem is laziness. You want to live the life of a trapper? Do it old school style not from the comfort of your living room.
Trapping in remote locations? I'm ok w/that. Trapping aroud the rest of us is just wrong.
I am gonna guess that more dogs are killed by cars than traps, so are we gonna quite driving in Alaska....What about Moose???? Geez, a dog gets caught in a trap and now he's starred in the paper as "Andre The Wonderdog". Hey folks .....stuff happens sometimes...its called life! I have known trappers that have caught dogs and I have to tell you that 10 out of 10 times in the cases I know of the dog was a long ways from home and these werent urban settings. Read the article folks...the dog was found out on a country road in Palmer not in downtown Fairbanks! Take care of your dog and this wont happen me thinks.
I know of some good and decent folks who live in the bush, and trap for part of their annual income. They've always seemed like caring an responsible persons, in my view.
Whether or not trapping is barbaric, I won't get into. I can point to lots of human behavior (and cultural/traditional ritual), including in this country, that meets some folks' definition of 'barbaric'; high-explosive rounds, 40mm white phosphorous rounds, cluster bombs, land mines, circumcision of new-born males, some forms of dentistry (often depending on the dentist), etc.. The list goes on and on.
Barbarism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, I guess..
Someone recently rumored that there was a bear-baiting site on Ester Dome, near residential areas. Some folks have trapped up there as well, also near residential areas. The persons engaging in these behaviors in that setting, or settings like that, are morons. Kids play on those trails. If my kid got an irresponsible trappers leg-hold on his foot/leg, the unthinking trapper would eat that bit of metal for dinner.
That said, leash laws exist for a reason. Just 'cause an owner happens to think that their dog is the best thing since sliced bread, doesn't mean that the animal has a right to go cruising where ever and when ever it likes. Nor does the owner have a right to allow it.
There've been a number of 'loose dogs' cruisiung the Cripple Creek/Kallenburg/Livingston Loop area off and on for the last several years. Persons have been accosted while riding bikes, kids walking family pets have had to change course or take unnecessary chances. I've advised my wife to carry either a handgun, large (heavy) club, or a bottle of pepper spray.
If you're letting your dog cruise unattended, don't be alarmed or angry when it either doesn't come home at all, or comes home with fewer legs than it left with.
I'm personally a dog lover. I've always had them. I've hitch-hiked the bulk of North America with them, preferring them to most human beings, and have had them keep me safe in varied circumstances.
That said, I detest irresponsible dog ownbers. Their dogs usually atone for the owner's karma. Don't leave your dog vulnerable to paying your dues.
imusuallyright: nobody wants to try to prove you anything but jobless. It's easy to sit on your duff, collect your welfare check and surf the net all day long trying to force your opinion on others. Bottom line, if someone is trapping in an illegal area, call fish and game. If your pet gets caught in a trap in a legal trapping area, too bad, you must not have liked it too much anyway.
What is the difference between trapping a wild animal or a tame one? Just because something is legal does not make it right.
Oh, and that's some awesome logic there Steve.
roadtrip,
If you're asking a moral/philosophical question, then in the grand scheme of things, it COULD be argued that there is little difference, other than perhaps if the 'tame' animal is a domesticated critter that's considered to be a 'friend' or member of a human family, etc.
Technically speaking, depending on the type of trap used, the trapping of a domesticated animal such as a dog, particularly if done purposefully, would likely constitute a criminal act. The law sometimes sets different standards for humane treatment of domesticated critters, as opposed to wild critters.
Even then, there's some sensible, yet logically sometimes-quizzical standards; it's legal to shoot a moose, but not to trap a moose. It's even illegal to -throw- things (other than high-speed lead or arrows) at a moose.
Even the trapping of a wild animal is considered illegal if it's done where there isn't supposed to be trapping, the season is closed or that particular animal isn't 'trapable' by law, or the person doing the trapping isn't licensed.
'Ownership,' or stewardship, also enters into the discussion. The State of Alaska has quasi-ownership of the various resources naturally occuring in the State; that includes 'wild' animals that provide furs. The State, the representative body of the People of Alaska, says that it's o.k. to trap SOME of their critters, providing that it's done during specific times of the year, and only pertains to specific species of animals. They also require that trappers be licensed.
In the end, in some cases, the difference between trapping a wild animal and trapping a domesticated animal (where both are trapped intentionally) might be a fine and some jail time. ;^>)
I know that I was being overly elementary in re. to some of that, perhaps even a bit excessively literal, but you asked. ;^>)
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