Ever-green wrote:- Glad to know the dog is okay! Could have gone worse if the trap was not a leg-hold one.
Five feet isn't very much distance from a trail center, but it's really no different from ten feet, or 50, if the dog is off lead and exploring around while the owner is on the trail itself. But I found another article on this, and the woman claims her dog was staying right near her for most of the journey. So a little more distance in this scenario may have prevented the incident. Maybe if it was farther away, the dog would have missed the bait. Maybe. If the dog was attached to her, it actually probably would have been worse if the dog got into the trap when moving, and then had the owner tug her in the other direction. Ow!
I like how the trapper told the woman that they would tell her next time they were putting our traps, at least it looks like some dialogue will happen.
If this kind of things continue to happen, they may have to evaluate that 5ft. distance on a case-by-case basis, or simply mark them better.
Thanks for finding that other article; it does seem that more distance in this case might have prevented the incident. If it were me, I'd like more room away from the trap in general, dog or no dog. (I think I would just be paranoid all the time, haha.) I agree that a leash of some kind could have exacerbated the dogs injuries. The good thing is that the trap was non-lethal, so I suppose I'd rather have one of those near the path if I had to choose.
