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Traps snare petsAnimal lovers,trappers at oddsa *By JOE VAN ZANDT Staff WriterWisconsin’s annual trapping season is in full swing and once again the complaint is being voiced that traps pose a threat to pets and children.The Department of Natural Resources gets calls from throughout Kenosha County, but anti-trapping sentiment is greatest in Twin Lakes, according to the DNR, where ideal habitat for fur-bearing animals is in close proximity to housesOne of those upset with trapping in the village is Joan Herin, 1102 Rosebud Ave.“About a month ago, my cat disappeared,” she said. “After three days of looking, we finally found it in a swampy area near the house. It had been caught in a trap and was barely alive.”Herin rushed the pet to a veterinarian in Burlington who saved its life, but because of infection and other damage, its leg had to be amputated.“It saddens me every time I look at her,” she said, “but at least she is alive. Two years ago, her brother was killed by a similar trap.”Despite the heartache and the $250 she spent to save her cat, Herin is not opposed to all trapping.“A fellow puts traps under water near the shore of the lake to catch muskrats and I don’t object to that,” she said. “After all, the muskrats are a nuisance and cause a lot of erosion at the shoreline. 1 just object to placing traps where someone’s pet or child can easily be caught in one.”Claudia Michalski, 853 Bayview Ave., agrees.“Recently, my neighbors and I saw a cat hobbling along with one of its feet in a leg-hold trap. It hid in a culvert but we were finally able to reach it and remove the trap,” she said. “Its paw was crushed and it had maggots on the injury, indicating it had been in the trap a long time. We took it to the vet but it was too far gone and he couldn’t save it.”“Setting traps in subdivisions where kids or pets are likely to step on one should be outlawed,” she said. “They (the trappers) say dogs and cats shouldn’t be running loose but even people who watch their pets closely sometimesforget and leave a door or gate open. This is not a wildnernessarea.”She said she has found traps without required identification tags and has found opossums clubbed to death and left to rot, apparently because they got caught in a trap and irritated a trapper after raccoons, whose pelts are valuable.Such activities are illegal, but although Michalski reported them to DNR game warden John Glen-non and Twin Lakes Police Department, she said she is unaware of any effort to identify and prosecute the persons responsible. She said Glennon was sympathetic when she talked to him and promised to come out, but she hasn’t seen him so far.Twin Lakes Police Chief Peter DeMarco said because the village has no laws prohibiting or regulating trapping, his policy is to refer complaints such as Michalski’* to the DNR. A receptionist at the DNR office in Brighton said Glennon hasn’t answered messages left by the News recently because he has been busy in the field.A spot-check of Michalski’s neighborhood by the News uncovered two leg-hold traps with proper tags attached and one box or “live” trap without proper identification tag. It also violates DNR regulations because it was set less than 100 yards from a house.Charles Pils, DNR fur resources specialist, said whenever such violations are verified, the traps are confiscated and the trapper fined He admits that because of limited manpower, the DNR is hard put to track down every violator. In Kenosha County, just two game wardens, Glennon and Barbara Wolf, are responsible for patrolling several hundred square miles and supervising all hunting, fishing and trapping.Pils dismissed claims that traps are a threat to humans.“In all my 18 years with the DNR,” said Pils, “I never heard of a person caught and injured by a trap.”He also denied trapping is cruel, saying traps for muskrats and other aquatic mammals are set so the animal drowns quickly. Con-ibear traps used on land quickly suffocate an animal, while animals caught in box traps areKenosha News ohotos by Joe Van ZandtCutie Pie, a pet, survived after losing leg in leg-hold trapkilled by a gunshot to the head or suffocated by crushing their rib cage. Animals don’t suffer long in leg-hold traps set on land, Pils said, because such traps are checked at least once a day.In a recent article in Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine, Pils and co-author Robert Bluett defend trapping as “the most efficient way to conduct a continuing harvest of furbearers” and stated 86 percent of the almost 1 million furbearers taken annually in Wisconsin are trappedThey cite these benefits of trapping:— It maintains a healthy balance between furbearers, their habitat and human interests.— It provides information on furbearer populations needed to develop management goals and conduct scientific research.— It reduces the potential threat to humans and domestic animals posed by wildlife diseases.— It helps reduce furbearer-related damage and nuisances.— It creates recreational and economic opportunities.Michalski said if the DNR really wants to control trapping properly, it would issue licenses only to adults, make a voluntary education course mandatory, and insist fur dealers check licenses to make sure pelts are not taken illegally.Twin Lakes Village President James Mayer said he is considering drafting an ordinance to regulate trapping in the community.Isewhere, however, additional restrictions on trapping are unlikely since the sate Legislature has taken the position that trapping is a beneficial recreational activity.mMLeg-hold trap under water drowns animalsTrapper kills animal caught when door drops
Newspaper Details
Kenosha News Courier
Kenosha, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Jan 02, 1985
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Louis R.
WI, USA 17 Dec 2018
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