Dog owner calls leghold traps 'inhumane' after his Labrador injured in B.C. forest

Cranbrook resident, William Post, says he doesn't have a problem with trapping, but after his black Labrador, Dexter, was caught and badly injured by a leghold trap, he thinks trappers should rethink using that particular device.

"I'd never seen a leghold trap in my life before, but now that I've seen this one, I realize how inhumane they are, and I personally would not want to see any animals, wolf, coyote, whatever, get caught in one of these," Post said.

About three weeks ago, Post and his wife went for a drive to a forested area about 12 kilometres south of Cranbrook to pick berries and cedar boughs for Christmas. 

They turned up a logging road and let their two labs out for run. After a few minutes, Post noticed four-and-a-half year old Dexter was missing.

"I could hear him howling up the road from where we'd just been. So I turned around quickly as I could and drove up the road and there he was, a lot of blood on the road," he told Daybreak South host Chris Walker.

Dexter's leg was caught inside a leghold trap, a trap that clamps onto an animal's limb and has a chain and piece of metal that anchors it to the ground. 

 "He was fighting for his life," said Post. "He kept biting the steel thinking that he could get it off but of course it was launched on his leg and he could not move it, and so by doing that he destroyed a lot of his teeth."

The Posts drove the 90-pound dog to a vet with the trap still on him, because they couldn't get him out of it.

Dexter's leg is now healing well, however he lost many teeth when he tried to bite the trap off his leg.

"He won't be exactly the same for sure, but I think he will be fine."

Legal trap

The trap was set up legally, said Post, but he didn't see any signs for it. "I must say we never ever, ever thought of a trap," he said.

"I really have no problem with trapping or with the trappers. Many of my friends are trappers, but once I've seen what happens to a dog who got caught in a leg hold trap, my personal feeling is it's inhumane."

Tim Killey, president of the B.C. Trappers Association, said while Dexter's injury was an unfortunate accident, it's not the result of any illegal or unethical behavior on the part of trappers.

"It's very upsetting to us that this pet was accidentally caught. No trapper wants to ever catch anyone's pet," Killey said.

Traps, such as the leghold one, are certified to be used in B.C. under the Agreement of International Humane Trap Standards (AIHTS), to which Canada is a signatory. The international agreement sets standards for approval and certification of wild animal trapping devices. Its objective is to meet European Union regulations on humane trapping.

Over the past 25 years, certified standards have been implemented and leghold traps have been adjusted to be safer.

"The old tooth kind of traps that we used to see are outlawed and banned," Killey said. "We cannot use those types of traps that would cause damage."

The B.C. Trappers Association is encouraging trappers to use free signs they provide to mark traplines. However, Killey added that there's always a risk when pet owners let their dogs off leash, not just from traps, but from other wildlife too. 

"We need to put into perspective that catching a pet is extremely rare," said Killey.

"Trappers have to take a responsibility for their activities, as well as pet owners."