by Jim Grawe (SALINA, Kan.)When you see how much effort it takes to set a small game trap, you can imagine how dangerous it is when it’s tripped. Carson Mansfield found that out on a recent hunting trip.

“You’re out there and you’re having a good time and your dog yelps for help,” says Mansfield, who is Salina’s deputy police chief.

Mansfield ran to the aid of his dog to find the beagle’s head caught in the steel jaws of a trap designed to catch and kill wild animals. There was nothing he could do to save his beloved pup.

“It’s devastating when it happens,” Mansfield says. “It’s devastating.

Mansfield has a new beagle now and hopes the state will help keep her safe. He testified before the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission, asking them to ban trapping on public land.  Mansfield says he has no problem at all with trapping, but says it shouldn’t be done in areas where unsuspecting hunters and dogs are walking around.

The owner of Cleve’s Marine and Sporting Goods sympathizes with Mansfield.

“It’s a shame that anything like that should happen,” Larry Mulder says.

But Mulder, who is one of the few trap dealers in Salina, says all trappers shouldn’t suffer because of this tragedy.

“I haven’t heard of it happening before,” Mulder says.  “We’ve been selling traps and such for 40 years.”

Meanwhile Mansfield fears the next victim could be a child. “It would not be good,” Mansfield says.

While it was legal for the trap to be placed on state park land, Mansfield says it did violate the law because it wasn’t tagged with the trapper’s name.

There’s no indication whether the Commission will act on Mansfield’s request.”

 While I understand this family’s pain in loosing a pet and I do not think this is the case in this incident I would like to point out that most pets killed or injured in traps are the fault of the pet owners. A lot of the time the pet owner has let there pet free roam and it gets entangled or trapped. Thus you hear a public out cry for trapping to be halted.

 A prime example of this was yesterday we were hired to trap a cat that was defecating and tearing the screens of a neighbor. the neighbor was furious we trapped their cat and that now they were having to pay a fine witch was less than the home owner had to pay my company.

Here is the other problem I have with trap bans. You limit a professional in his or hers ability to do ethical and professional wildlife control. You see I can set a conibear trap and trap a raccoon in an attic a lot more faster and quicker witch means a lower cost to the pubic. It just takes half the tools out of our toolbox. Now how much danger is the pet when I have a trap on the roof?

I guess it is just a Lil pet peeve of mine…