Search Trapping Incidents Database

A redbone racoon hunting dog got caught in a body grip trap left for wildlife set in a field. The dog died as a result.

A pet german shepherd dog got it’s foot caught in a body grip trap left for other wildlife set in a pasture. The dog was released with no apparent injury.

Andre was caught in an animal trap or snare. A woman found him when she noticed him trailing blood across a country road. The woman nursed him 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.

Shepherd mix, Luna, was trapped in a leghold trap. Dog lost a lot of blood. Possessor achieved a settlement with the trapper.

A hunting dog (lab retriever) was caught in a foot hold trap left for other wildlife set in a small creek in Brooklyn Public Hunting Grounds. The dog required vet care.

A pet beagle was caught in a body grip trap left for other wildlife in a pasture. The dog died as a result.

A black bear was caught in a body grip trap left for other wildlife in a forest. The black bear died as a result.

A hunting dog (German Shorthair) was caught in a leg-hold trap left for wildlife on a trail. Dog had no apparent injury.

A man was walking his dog along the south shore of Lake Keegan when she caught a whiff of something. Because the man had been training Bella for hunting, he allowed her off the sidewalk about 100 yards to investigate. After exploring, the two started to walk back and passed a metal post. He heard Bella yelp and thought at first that she was tangled in some barbed wire in the grass. When he looked closer, he realized that a metal trap was around her neck. As he frantically struggled to remove it, Bella began to suffocate, her eyes wide and tongue turning blue. “By the time I figured out how it all worked and where the release was, it was too late,” he recalled. “She was gone.” The man immediately notified the police, thinking there was “no way” trapping could be legal so close to a residential area. The trap was for coyotes and raccoons. He soon found out that Rosemount had no rules on trapping and started writing letters to city officials. His efforts paid off. In September 2008, the Rosemount City Council passed an ordinance 5-0 restricting where traps can be set.

A family dog was found dead in a Conibear 220 trap about a week after he died. Elliot had managed to uproot the stake securing the trap and struggled about 75 feet before he died. Elliot’s caregivers turned the trap over to a Conservation Officer, who submitted the results of his investigation to the state’s attorney’s office. Writing to Elliot’s caregivers, the owner of the trap said his intent in setting the trap was to protect his garden from scavenging raccoons and that he had no intention of trapping the dog. He also wrote that “allowing a dog to run repeatedly at-large is irresponsible and dangerous” and that the dog “should have been locked up that night.” The Conibear trap used had jaws above 8 inches, illegal for use on land in South Dakota. The fine for using the illegal trap is $126. No court appearance will be required.