• Fall 2009 - Six of us hikers were heading up to the popular Tonuco petroglyphs when we encountered a man with bags of Swift Fox carcasses in his truck & he volunteered that he had traps set all over the area. The visuals were sickening. Upon checking the NM laws on trapping, I find they are virtually lax to the point of a free for all. With these existing laws, trappers having no conscience or compassion, could wipe out an entire species in an area. -Dona Ana County
• I was hiking in Socorro County when I came upon a white-sided jackrabbit caught in a steel leg-hold trap designed for coyotes. This is a protected species in NM! I was trying to see about how to free it when I noticed that one front paw had been severed and the other hung only by ligaments. I gave it a quick and humane death with my pistol and hid the poor animal, then dropped the trap down a mine shaft to a watery grave. While I can't advocate destruction of property, I have to say it was the most satisfying thing I've done all week. As a hunter myself, I find trappers and trapping unconscionable.
  --Socorro County, NM
• I live in a remote area of Socorro county and have been horrified that a trapper has taken over the canyon where I love to hike and walk with my dogs. I feel like a prisoner in my own home. It takes him 6 hours to check all his traps- there must be hundreds of them and he has been here for weeks already. It will probably be years before I see a bobcat again.
  --Socorro County, NM.
• I was hiking in the Quebradas region east of Socorro last weekend when my beautiful, border collie mix female dog was caught in a coyote leg trap. It was horrifying. The screams and cries of pain she made will haunt me for a very long time.
   The Quebradas Back country by-way is a scenic region run by the BLM. The brochure (available on-line) invites hikers, bikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts to explore this public area. The BLM advocates a Leave-No-Trace philosophy, and one of the tenets is to "respect wildlife". How can these heinous trapping devices be part of that mission?
  --Socorro County, NM.
• My dog Jesse is a terrier mix and was about five months old when this happened. We hiked into Wind Canyon (west of Silver City about 5 miles, on the south side of 180) and hiked east until we were within a half mile of houses at Tyrone. It was obviously an area that lots of folks recreate in - dirt bike trails, etc. I began walking back west toward my vehicle along a dirt road which followed a sandy draw, sometimes in it and sometimes alongside it.
    I was standing maybe six inches from Jesse wondering what that "funny smell" was when a trap came up out of the sand like a rattler and got her by the front leg midway between wrist and elbow. I extricated her quickly and carried her up the side of the hill, away from any other hidden traps, and after some time, maybe an hour of comforting her, we were able to limp back to the vehicle.
    I think her young malleable bones were why the trap didn't break her leg. This was such an awful experience. As for me, I am retired and hike several hours every day. I study maps in the evenings and see all these blank places I'd like to explore with my dogs. But this experience has made me fearful of going anywhere with them except in the rec area at Little Walnut and the refuge east of town. (And even there, about 2 years ago we were no more than a quarter mile outside it when my other dog tripped a trap but didn't get caught in it.) I find this very confining and am angry that I must be afraid of using public land.
  --Grant County, NM.
• While hiking west of Las Cruces near the edge of the Aden Lava Flow WSA (Wilderness Study Area), one of my golden retrievers stepped in a leg trap. She yelped and frantically tried to get free. With some difficulty, since I have no experience with traps and my dog was in distress and very active, I was able to free her. She limped for a time but had no serious injury. I was furious. I destroyed the trap and hid it where it will never be found. Thank you for the work you are doing on this issue.
  --Southern NM.
• On Christmas day we were hiking along our favorite road near the Continental Divide Trail. The dogs were running scent trails back and forth across the road, as they usually do, while I was making my way along the road. All of a sudden from off to the right I heard a snap, like a branch breaking or an animal crashing through the brush and then one of the dogs began screaming as if they were in extreme pain…I raced towards the sound…As I got closer, I discovered what the issue was. One of my dogs had a leg-hold trap attached to his left front foot.
    The adrenaline helped me to have the strength to remove the trap from his foot. I did get bitten in the process, but since he was in pain, I didn't mind the nip. As soon as he was released, he raced off seemingly unharmed. Upon further inspection later I determined that the trap had hit his head first and then ended up on his foot. He received cuts above his left eye and along the left side of his muzzle…I was not happy and I will be choosing my hiking areas a little more carefully until trapping season is over.
  -–Southern NM.
• I recently encountered coyotes that had been in traps for at least 36 hours on private land where I work. I just talked to a friend who was also working in the same area last week. He saw both of the coyotes Tuesday morning and shot them both to put them out of their misery on Wednesday night (he didn't have his gun with him earlier). They had been in there since Monday night at least.
    As disturbing it is to me to shoot a trapped animal, I feel it is better than suffering for days more and I assume they would be lame after so long in a trap. The carcasses laid there until sometime Friday evening or Saturday morning, they were gone mid morning Saturday. Which means (the trapper) is checking once a week. Disgusting lazy man!
  --Southern NM.
• I know a woman in Sierra County who always lets the coyotes she traps die in the traps: she says they are easier to deal with when they are dead. She sets the traps around her house. Her kids torment the animals in the traps.
  --Elephant Butte.
• Found a jackrabbit with two broken legs. Had to put it out of its misery.
  --Mesilla, NM
• I almost stepped in a large trap while our hiking group was hiking on public land. Five minutes later, a dog owned by on of our member got caught in the trap and my partner was bitten by the dog when he freed it from the trap.
  --Tyrone, NM
• I was appalled when my dog came home dragging a trap on her leg. It took two men to remove it.
  --Las Cruces, NM
• Two foxes were recently found in a trap near Jemez Springs in an area where people frequently walk with their dogs. This fox family gave great pleasure to nearby residents who enjoyed watching them. They felt their loss deeply.
  --Jemez Pueblo, NM
• We've had/seen some pretty nasty trapping incidents on BLM land. A coyote trap laid in the Trails area west of San Ysidro caught our dog. In the Scenic Byway breaks East of Socorro there was a bobcat in a trap still alive. A mountain lion (was) trapped down by the Ladrones. The trap cable and the cat's skeleton remained with the head, paws and skin removed. The cat, in its struggles had nearly destroyed the juniper it was cabled to.
  --Albuquerque, NM
• My family is in the meat business and I grew up around trapping and understand how unnecessary the torture of traps is.
  --Albuquerque, NM
• A hiker from Hillsboro was in the Warm Springs area and found the remains of a fox in a leg-hold trap. The trapper, another Hillsboro resident, apparently checks his traps infrequently at best. A complaint was made to the NM Dept. of Game and Fish, but as far as we know, no action was taken.
  --Hillsboro, NM
• I had a dog who stumbled into a trap and was trapped by on of those clamps. Luckily, my dog was saved by me and my husband as we pried off the clamp, but it was a frightening experience. It is very inhumane.
  --Albuquerque, NM
• A Grant County woman stepped in a leg-hold trap in the Gila National Forest after she attempted to open another trap in which her dog had been caught. She was wearing sandals at the time, and luckily was able to pull back quickly so the trap only grazed her toes, drawing some blood, before it clamped onto the end of one sandal. The woman asked to remain anonymous, saying she feared retribution from the trapper.
  --Silver City Sun-News Nov. 2005.
• A Silver City resident found a bobcat in a leg-hold trap adjacent to his driveway. On the end of the chain opposite the trap, the prongs that are designed to secure the trap had obviously come loose from whatever it had been attached to and become hung up in a chain near the driveway. NM Game and Fish was sending someone to handle the situation, but by late afternoon, nobody had arrived. The resident was frustrated that nothing was done for the animal for an entire day.
  --Silver City Sun-News December 2005.
    (Follow-up: the bobcat was found to have severe foot injuries from the trap and was euthanized the next day.
• About a week ago I was walking BLM lands in New Mexico with my husband, my father and my dog. My dog had just jumped out of the truck and within a few seconds had been sniffing something with great interest, just a few feet off the parking area. In an instant, we heard a snap, he yelped, jumped into the air and took off running through the brush with something trailing immediately behind him.
    Horrified, we called to him trying to get him to stop running. He had become ensnared in a leg-hold trap, which had been hidden under the soil. Fortunately, the trap must have caught only a bit of flesh and mostly fur because after running madly for about a minute, he freed himself from the trap and came running back to us. He was shaking and licking at his hind leg. I checked him and with great relief, found no blood.
    My husband traced his path and found the steel leg-hold trap with our dog's fur caught in it. We found four more traps, all hidden under soil, all placed illegally between three and twenty feet from the edge of the road. We decided to report the incident. The Fish & Game authority did not contact us until noon the following day. Upon speaking with him I quickly realized that he was only interested in finding out where we lived so that he could pick up the traps we had found. He did not even know the law regarding placement of traps, made it clear that he was not concerned about the plight of the public, but in fact was more interested in protecting the practice of trapping at any cost…
    I told him I had just learned that several people had contacted him with similar problems in the past week and he replied, “yeah, three or four dogs were caught in the traps – it happens but its no big deal…”
  --Sacramento Mountains.
• We headed up a dry creek bed perhaps a few hundred feet when my dog got caught in a leg-hold trap placed under a tree on an animal path alongside the dry creek... We freed the dog, who was unhurt… I left a note for the trapper on the trap. On our way out we encountered a man and woman who identified themselves as the trappers... We continued on our way.
    They came out a few minutes later and drove up to our truck, the man threw my note at us and then sped off in a cloud of dust. My speculation is that they run their traplines along the roadways at the minimum distance required by law so they can reach them primarily by vehicle with a small amount of walking…The trapping is for commercial purposes and they know NM laws are so lax that they can get away with this lazy, dangerous practice of trapping from the road.
  --Knight’s Peak, Burro Mountains.
• On Thursday, December 1, 2005, we were hiking on public land when one of our dogs got caught in a steel leg-hold trap. It was not along the road, but was in the middle of an obviously well-used trail up a dry wash. We have hiked in that area several times before and often see other hikers in the area.
    The person who was able to free the dog from the trap angrily threw the trap into the bushes. Fortunately, the dog was not seriously injured. His leg was bleeding, but he was able to walk OK. The dog’s owner left with him immediately to take him to the vet. She is now afraid to hike with us anymore...
    I have read in the papers about other pets that have been caught in these traps and of people being injured by them. We sometimes bring our grand-children along on our hikes and this trap was of a size that could easily snare a child’s foot… These trappers obviously have no regard for other people or animals.
  --Near the Continental Divide in Southwestern NM.
• Traps are NOT humane, the animals are NOT sleeping peacefully, and trappers DO catch a lot of wrong game, a lot of eagles, hawks, all kinds of predator birds, and deer, not to mention domestic animals. How much of a supply there is, is open for argument. The trappers with the big money making trap lines are NOT checking everyday, and the only fortunate thing is that most trappers don't catch much.
  It takes a good amount of woodsmanship and wildlife knowledge to actually catch the targeted game. And with soaring costs it is becoming less lucrative. But if the traps are out there, they are catching domestics as well as wrong wildlife. The scent is noticed by all animals. A lot of them are curious so they go see. Trapping should be just plain outlawed all around.
  --A former trapper in Southern NM.
• As a former trapper, I feel the pain inflicted does not justify any profit that could be produced.
  --Tularosa, NM.
• …the public land in the area where I live is not regulated properly and trappers are free to break any rules they wish… this includes the use of illegal traps, traps being placed illegally on public lands and private property and trapping out of season.
  --Burro Mountains
• My father and grandfather were at one time the largest fur merchants in Canada. Given that, I strongly believe that the trapping of animals is immoral and unconscionable.
  --Santa Fe, NM.
• I was out enjoying a walk with my dogs on BLM land on a nice January afternoon. I went to an area where I have been many times before. One of my dogs suddenly started crying and snapping at her foot… I found her caught in a leg-hold trap and my leisurely walk took a horrifying turn. I had no idea what to do. Fortunately, we were not far from the car and I ran back to get some tools to pry it open. When I got back to my dog, she was biting the trap and blood was flying everywhere.
    I attempted numerous times to release the trap with a variety of tools, none of which worked. I cried for help, but of course, no one came. I ran back to the car and was able to drive it over the land to be near her… I finally gave up on trying to get her leg free and I discovered that the trap was attached to rebar in the ground. I dug it up and she jumped to the safety of the car.
    We dashed to the nearest town 30 miles away and went to a very dear veterinarian. He calmly led her into the office, sedated her, and was able to use all of his strength to finally release the trap. He admitted I would never have been able to do this, especially under the chaos of the situation. The story has a happy ending - she ended up with no permanent leg damage although she has broken all her middle teeth.
  --Los Pinos Mountains.
• …the other day I walked a dog at the local Humane Society who had been caught in one of these traps and required extensive surgery to repair his leg and the muscles right up into his chest He had lain there for many hours before he was found.
  --El Prado, NM.
• All the bobcats are gone from my neighborhood and it’s a shame.
  --Tijeras, NM.
• I have dogs and horses and am often in the mountains. For years, I have worried about one of us being caught in a trap. So far, the ones we’ve found were already sprung.
  --Placitas, NM.

Continued at right: Stories >

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Continued from left: Stories

• My 40 pound Australian Shepherd dog got her leg caught in a trap once on the Lincoln National Forest.
  --Albuquerque, NM.
• Encountered traps volunteering for AMRC (Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council) and Rails to Trails in Cloudcroft.
  --Albuquerque, NM.
• Traps are gross. I’ve seen carcasses rotting in the sun.
  --Animas Creek, NM.
• Have had two dogs lose legs to traps - a tragedy!
  --Las Cruces, NM.
• As a hunting and outdoors enthusiast, I do not understand the need for trapping on public land in New Mexico. I have hunted elk and deer in N.M. off and on for the last 20 years. Public lands are intended to be used by everyone. Having dangerous traps lying on the ground that potentially could lead to a disaster for me of some other unsuspecting individual does not make much sense.
    I totally believe in game management and have personally seen the benefits, but when innocent people are affected, the losses outweigh the benefits. I have seen and heard of many cases of Bighorn sheep, deer and elk being killed by these traps… As someone who cares about wildlife, hunting and the overall success of our public lands, I hope trapping on public lands in New Mexico is prohibited.
  --Dallas, TX.
• I have personally experienced this - my dog was caught in an old unattended trap. She was hurt and frightened, biting at us as we tried to remove her from the trap.
  --Caballo, NM.
• I have personally seen how animals can be cruelly trapped and still alive. Several years ago, we rescued a fox whose paw was caught and dangling. We cut off the paw with a pocket knife and hope it survived.
  --Socorro, NM.
• My friend’s dog was caught in a trap and it took years of physical therapy to help her walk. She still has a limp and it has affected her personality. I’m very much against traps of any kind.
  --Tucson, AZ.
• Some neighbors discovered a coyote with a trap attached to her leg by the barest remnant of sinew and skin. It turned out that she had been dragging it around for a month and was nearly spent from her inability to hunt or behave normally… The coyote survived her ordeal, now three-legged, but we were still disgusted at the unnecessary suffering she endured.
    To allow unlimited numbers of traps to be set on public land and unlimited numbers of animals to be taken, many or most of which are subjected to this kind of torture, is unconscionable. I personally do not think we owe public lands ranchers this option. If ranchers insist on using traps on their private lands, it is sad, but to allow it in the public domain, where land is held for many uses and purposes is wrong.
  --Santa Fe, NM.
• I had a dog get in one. She was a miniature dachshund. It was awful. Luckily I was there and able to get her out, but not without her frantically biting me and her own leg… I have also heard about a calf being caught in one. Of course it had died and its poor mother had hung around for ages.
    Coyotes had a nice time with this… I live near the National Forest, I hike and ride horses. During trapping “season”, I don’t go into the forest very often for fear of the traps. Why should I be kept out of our National Forest because some cruel person feels a need to put traps out there…?
  --Silver City, NM.
• My beloved dog “Hopi” was caught in one of these horrible traps. We were on a peaceful walk in the wilderness. I would like to see one of these trappers caught in one of these horrors. My feelings were of helplessness - how to open it?
  --Truth or Consequences, NM.
• Having trapped, they are cruel.
  --Las Cruces, NM.
• I have found animals in leg traps -- including a roadrunner, the state bird -- and its not a pretty sight.
  --Las Cruces, NM.
• My husband and I are both hunters as well as outdoor enthusiasts. We know the meaning of a clean kill and the proper use of the meat afterwards. In my mind, the use of leg-hold traps is neither of the above. We recently had an incident while walking through the Gila Forest. Our Blue Heeler dog got caught in one of those steel leg-hold traps. Fortunately, I was not there to hear him scream. However, my husband was and he said it is a sound that will forever stay with him.
    Luckily, he was able to get him to the vet immediately and our dog survived… I have had the opportunity to speak with a rancher, just to see what his side of the story was. Of course, he was against the banning of any leg-hold traps. He tells me those coyotes are wily and they are difficult to shoot. So the only means the rancher has is to use the traps. I have been told the coyotes are attacking their cattle.
    I might agree with the rancher as long as he uses them on his private lands. However, the national forest is not his land. It belongs to all of us. There are far more people hiking and walking the forest these days because there has been an influx in population… Traps should be banned.
  --Tyrone, NM.
• I was on a ride in the Burro Mountains accompanied by my border collie and golden retriever. We were all having a nice time when suddenly my golden cried out loudly in pain and jumped back. We were in a large arroyo which is a major drain and path into a beautiful canyon. This arroyo is used by many humans and animals. At first I thought my dog had been bitten by a rattlesnake. I then quickly discovered she was tethered to the ground by heavy chain attached to a trap which had been covered with sand.
    I was horrified, especially when I discovered that no matter how hard I tried, I could not release the trap. She was completely terrified and thrashing around. I removed my Leatherman from the saddlebags, and slowly chewed away at the large chain with the little wire cutters on it. My theory was that if I could hold up the trap, maybe she could hobble down the arroyo into the canyon where we could get help.
    This was tricky, leading a nervous horse who had also been upset by the screaming dog and trying to hold up a heavy trap and encourage a terrified dog to come with me. This is a very sweet dog who can be quite stoic, but she has large bones and the pressure on her ankle was tremendous, so she just lay in the sand crying. I then decided I would have to leave her and ride for help. I did so, reluctant to look back at her, until I heard her howling. When I looked back, she was thrashing around in the sand, so upset at being left that I knew she would be severely hurt from this thrashing.
    When I rode back to her, she actually mournfully tried to wag her tail being so relieved at having someone come back to her. I then did the only thing I could think of: I took my horse’s bridle off, tied it to the saddle horn, removed anything that might hang her up and let her go! The border collie took out after the horse, which was further upsetting, but she eventually returned. I hoped the area rancher would find the horse, realize there was a problem and track us back to the arroyo which led off the canyon.
    When I heard a vehicle what seemed like a long time later, I used my stock dog whistle as loudly as I could. He heard me, and could see me in the sand with the dog upstream from the mouth of the canyon. After removing the trap, he then went back for a pick-up, as the dog could not walk, so more time went by. She recovered with no permanent damage, but only because someone was there and came looking for us. I was horrified at this whole incident. Believe me when I say I do not have the same feeling when riding softly down a beautiful arroyo or canyon, knowing what is lurking just under the surface.
  --Burro Mountains, NM.
• My dog was caught in a trap while hiking on a maintained trail to a fire tower in the Gila. He was less than 10 feet from the trail when he was caught. The normally mild mannered dog was so frightened and in so much pain that he tried to bite me and my hiking companion when we tried to release him. We had to muzzle him to release him and then had get emergency medical attention for my companion for the bite.
  --Albuquerque, NM.
• I live in the El Morro-Zuni area and these traps are killing bobcats and trapping our dogs. They are horrific and cruel.
  --Ramah, NM.
• I once had a beautiful dog who was caught in a trap. The trapper later shot and killed my dog.
  --Santa Fe, NM.
• My parents have a cat who was trapped in a trap for three days. He got his name “ahk-ahk” because he cried for so long, he lost his voice and one of his legs.
  --Santa Fe, NM.
• I’ve been with a dog caught in a trap. It was horrific.
  --Santa Fe, NM.
• The screams of my dog were a sound I had never heard from him or any other animal, nor will I ever forget them… He had stepped into a leg-hold trap as he walked beside us and was frantically trying shake himself loose. Since neither my friend nor I had seen a trap up close before, it was difficult to get it off the dog whose mouth was soon bloody from his own attempts to get the trap off.
    My first instinct which was that the trap would release by pressing down on each side, turned out to be correct, but one side was stiff and wouldn’t operate so we tried everything else before trying harder to push on it, finally with success…I can assure you from my experience, no tourist whose dog gets caught will remember the trip fondly.
  --Winn Mott, the Deming Headlight, 4/20/2005.
• My neighbors and I have all had negative experiences with traps, some legal, most illegal. Three German tourists, hiking near my house, came upon a coyote struggling to release itself from a trap. They were horrified and called the local game officer. He never showed up. Neither did the trapper. The Germans said they would never return to New Mexico. They also said Germany outlawed trapping forty years ago.
    I am alarmed at the lax way the state Game and Fish Department addresses what few laws there are and I feel these traps are a threat to tourists who come to New Mexico. They are a danger to hikers, backpackers, campers and casual visitors to our state and federal public lands. Often, people come upon a decomposing animal in a trap. Needless to say, it's a traumatic experience, especially for children.
    Eighty-nine countries have banned the practice of trapping. Eight states have also banned trapping on public lands. Seven other states have pending legislation…The people visiting New Mexico don't need to return home with tales of trapping incidents, most quite unpleasant.
  --Silver City, NM.
• I know a family that got two dogs caught by traps in one day... The vet bill was hundreds of dollars. If that happened to me I'd be (words deleted)... I'd be out to get that trapper. I wish one of them would step in his own trap and see how he likes it.
  --Espanola, NM.
• I heard about this rancher out near Eldorado (NM) who uses traps to keep the coyotes down. This place is populated with kids and pet dogs. How can the law allow this? What if one of those kids steps in a trap and gets caught? Can you imagine how the parents would react - or the law suit which would follow?
  --Northern NM.
• I took care of injured animals for a wildlife rescue group and among the animals I cared for was a coyote which had lost a leg in a trap. Every day I looked into the eyes of this animal and I saw in it's eyes the question: "What did I do to deserve this?" This animal was fortunate to have been found and brought in for treatment or it would almost certainly have died from infection or starvation. If it had left coyote pups behind, they would probably have died without their mother to feed and protect them.
    We call ourselves "civilized," but I see nothing civil in torturing an animal to death for the sake of profit - which is what trapping is really about. Trapping is barbaric, no animal should be made to suffer like that. The fact that they are refered to as "furbearers" which can be "harvested" says volumes about the mind-set of those who conduct, condone and legalize trapping.
    Wild animals don't belong to anyone in particular. They should be allowed to live unmolested in their natural habitat where everyone can enjoy them. Trappers comprise a "special interest group" which should not be allowed to cash in at the expense of New Mexicos wildlife.
  --DWB - Northern NM.
• A dumped dog was caught in a coyote leg-hold trap. It occurred on a ranch outside ABQ. The foreman said the dog could have been in the trap up to 48 hours. The dog escaped amputation because the foreman took him to a vet immediately and gave careful treatment, including wholistic medicine. Three vets saw the dog, and two were responsible for not doing amputation.
  --Albuquerque, NM.

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