When Wild Animal Traps Harm Companion Animals
Wild animal trapping is the practice of setting mechanical traps to catch and kill wild animals for their fur, for recreational purposes, or because they are considered nuisances. The traps activate automatically when an animal moves on or through them and will either kill them directly or restrain them until the trapper returns.
Trapping is problematic not only because it causes wild animals to suffer, but also because traps are indiscriminate. Thus, they can unintentionally harm other animals including dogs and cats. Moreover, trappers are not required to report catching untargeted companion animals, while government agencies don’t always publish data they do have about untargeted trapped dogs or cats. Therefore, the scope of this issue is largely unknown.
This report begins to explore the extent of harm caused to dogs and cats unintentionally caught in wild animal traps in Canada. Although data on this issue are limited, the authors submitted freedom of information requests to each Canadian province and territory covering the years 2017-2021. They used this to determine the numbers of dogs and cats caught in traps each year broken down by location.
The authors also collected a sample of Canadian news articles about dogs and cats caught in traps published between 2017-2021 (this is often the only way the public learns about it). Given that reporting is not required, they point out that their calculations are lower than the actual numbers of dogs and cats caught in traps each year.
The report reveals that 173 dogs and cats were caught in wildlife traps in Canada between 2017 and 2021. The problem seems to be the most common in British Columbia (56 dogs and cats caught in traps), whereas Newfoundland and Nunavut each had no incidents. Between 2017 and 2020, trapping events may have increased over time, as there were 43 trapped animals in 2020 compared to 26 in 2017.
The data were inconsistent across regions and should be interpreted with caution. For example, Ontario does not track companion animal trappings and thus provided no information despite being the site of at least one trapping incident featured in news articles. As a result, British Columbia may not have seen the most trapping incidents between 2017-2021 — instead, this province may just have a more systematic way of tracking them than other locations.
The news articles about companion animal trappings offer additional insight into the issue, which we’ve compiled into an infographic below. Trappings vary depending on the environment, trap location, trap type, bait use, legality, companion species caught, person reporting the incident, and the outcome. The victims extend beyond the dogs and cats to the humans who witness and mourn their suffering. However, government officials cited in the articles often blamed animal guardians for letting their companions off leash, especially when the traps had been set legally.
The authors conclude that the number of companion animal trapping incidents is increasing, although they draw this conclusion from very limited data. They offer several recommendations for mitigating the issue. First, Canadian government agencies should be more transparent about companion animal trappings when they occur (including publicizing their data). Second, government agencies should strengthen trapping regulations to prevent companion animals from being harmed and to hold trappers accountable when it happens.
Finally, government agencies should allow the public to weigh in on trapping. This is important because the authors note that 79% of Canadians opposed killing animals for their fur. Legislation about trapping should reflect this attitude.
