Search Trapping Incidents Database

In a National Forest, Mollie was caught in a leghold trap for about ten minutes. She bit her guardian on the shin when he tried to free her. He writes, “This dog was also emotionally scared and held a grudge toward me for months — maybe forever — even though it was not my trap — I was only trying to help.” The trap was apparently legally set, and there is no violation for “accidentally” trapping a dog.

In the mountains near the family cabin, 15 miles north of Payson, Troy stepped into a leghold trap. “Troy’s screams were unbelievable. He was not only terrified, but in desperate pain,” writes his caregiver. Caught for about 15 minutes, Troy’s leg was crushed between ankle and paw, with swelling, bruising, and loss of skin. Although this was reported to the Forest Service, the trap owner was not found.

At Blue Hole, north of Payson, the dog was caught in a leghold trap. “She was not injured by the trap,” writes her guardian, “but her leg did swell and was tender for a couple of days. That particular trap was small (to trap foxes) and hearing her scream, I was able to pull the teeth apart far enough to get her leg out.”

The dog was caught in a Conibear trap set in a “run” along the river, on a path that animals used to walk through.

A dog wandered home with the trap on its muzzle.

Anticosti Island, QC, Canada — An eagle found in leghold trapwas taken to the Raptor Clinic at the University of Montreal. The bird was weak, dehydrated, and had very little use of the left foot, plus possible frostbite, advanced gangrene in toes, and drooping wing.

Tagged bald eagle was found alive in a trap by a teenage trapper near the St. Lawrence River — trapper was unsure what to do and was afraid of the bird so he shot and killed the eagle — eagle was originally tagged in New York.

Along the [Lehigh River] bank just below the Hamilton Street Bridge”; the trap was set for muskrat.

A mother cat and kitten were caught in the same leghold trap. The mother cat possibly chewed off the kitten’s leg to free him. Both were taken to the vet where the kitten’s remaining portion of leg was amputated.

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.