Family shoots dog stuck in wolf trap in recreation area
Biologists place traps along trails wolves travel on
by Pete Zimowsky in The Idaho Statesman
08-13-2002
A Kuna family´s pet dog was put out of its misery after it stepped in a
wolf trap Saturday in a popular recreation area near Stanley. The incident
now has the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rethinking its wolf-trapping
program in areas where recreationists are concentrated.
“Sammy was behind us, and I heard this terrible screech,” said Mindy
Youngman, who recalled the incident Monday at her home.
“She was screeching and biting. I tried to pull the trap off her leg,” she
said. “At this point, I was freaking out.”
Youngman, and her husband, Philip, and son, Noah, were camped near the
Winnemucca Trail, in the Capehorn/Seafoam area, about 25 miles northwest
of Stanley.
At the same time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Nez Perce Tribe
were conducting a wolf-collaring operation.
Leg-hold traps were being used to catch the wolves.
That operation was called off before the dog incident because of the
number of recreationists in the area, but biologists hadn´t gotten to all
the traps by Saturday, said Carter Niemeyer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service´s wolf recovery coordinator for Idaho.
The area, which is just off Idaho 21, is popular with hikers, mountain
bikers and riders of horses and ATVs. It is on the edge of the Frank
Church/River of No Return Wilderness.
The Youngmans had unknowingly passed several wolf traps next to the trail
while they were hiking. It was only when they were returning down the
trail, and about 30 minutes from camp, that their dog stepped in a trap.
Youngman said the trap was about 20 inches off the trail.
When the Youngmans couldn´t get their Queensland heeler out of the trap,
Philip Youngman felt he had to shoot her.
“Philip said, ´Mindy, we have to put her down, she´s in so much pain,´”
Mindy recalled. “We had to watch her pass.”
The Youngmans were hiking with their 2 1/2 -year-old son, Noah.
“It blows my mind that my son could have stepped in it,” she said. “This
is ridiculous.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service has since pulled all traps from the area. “I
told them to pull the traps,” Niemeyer said. “A biologist was coming up
the trail to pick up the traps. We were a little late.”
The federal agency and the tribe trap wolves around the state as part of
the wolf recovery program. The preferred method is to hunt the wolves from
a helicopter and use tranquilizer darts to subdue the animals and collar
them.
But helicopters can´t be used in the wilderness where this particular wolf
pack lives. The trapping operations were being conducted in the Knapp
Creek drainage, which is on the edge of the wilderness area.
About 15 wolves, which make up the Landmark pack, are known to leave the
wilderness and rendezvous in the area, which is more accessible to
trappers.
Leg-hold traps are set out with scent that attracts canines. The traps
hold the animal until biologists return and the animal can be injected
with a tranquilizer and fitted with a radio collar. Biologists check the
traps every morning, Niemeyer said.
The traps are put near trails because wolves use the trails and roadways.
Trapping operations are being conducted during the spring and fall. It is
hoped that if there are enough breeding pairs, wolves can be removed from
the endangered species list in the next few years.
The trapping programs are being conducted in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
But the federal agency is now looking more closely at where it conducts
trapping operations.
Niemeyer said trappers realized they had a problem in the Knapp Creek area
when so many recreationists showed up for the weekend.
Several campgrounds and major trailheads are in the area.
He said precautions were taken. Signs warning of the trapping operation
were put up, and the U.S. Forest Service was contacted, he said.
Biologists also warned recreationists they met in the area.
The Youngmans didn´t see the signs.
Niemeyer admits poor judgment in having the traps in the area, because of
the popularity with recreationists.
“In my whole career, I have never seen so many people doing so many
things,” Niemeyer said. He has been a government trapper for 28 years.
“It would amaze all these campers and tourists that all these wolves are
living up there with them,” he said.
Niemeyer and other biologists watched a pack of 12 wolves in the area over
the weekend.
“I had a horrible gut feeling about the crowds,” he said. “Timing was
terrible.”
Youngman said trails should be closed where trapping operations are being
conducted. Niemeyer said he thought they had picked a remote spot for
trapping.
Still, Mindy Youngman doesn´t think leg-hold traps are a humane way of
dealing with wolves.
“It had teeth on it,” she said of the trap.
Niemeyer said the “teeth” are burrs designed to keep the animal´s foot
from sliding and being hurt or damaged.
Niemeyer said the Youngmans´ dog would not have died in the trap and
called it an unfortunate incident.
Niemeyer said he has had dogs caught in the traps before and was able to
get them out.
“We´ve never had anything like this,” he said.
Youngman wishes she and her husband would have known more about leg-hold
traps before they decided to shoot their dog.
“We would have never done that if we would have known how to get the trap
open,” Youngman said. “She was in such pain. We wish we would have
known.”