As people take their dogs to roam in the woods and fields of Wyoming, pets are getting maimed or killed in traps set too close to public areas, residents told legislators Thursday.
During tearful testimony about a proposed trapping reform bill, Becky Barber of Afton recalled watching her 8-year-old English bull terrier Jester die after he was caught in a beaver trap that crushed his neck and throat last February.
“When I got to Jester, his big Jester heart was still beating,” Barber told members of the Wyoming Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee.
The committee voted to forward Senate File 139 to the Senate Floor. The bill calls for reforms, such as requiring traps to be set back from roads and hiking trails on public land.
A companion bill, Senate File 140, died in committee for lack of a motion to work the bill. It would have required trapper education courses for young trappers, similar to hunter education courses.
Committee member Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, said that while the concept of trapper education is sound, the bill as written won’t work.
Previously, there had been questions and remaking the state’s trapping regulations, such as whether education requirements would apply to such things as wildlife agents trapping for research or predator control.
“I just don’t think this bill (SF 140) is ready for prime time. It’s not the issue (trapper education), it’s just the structure of the bill at this point in time,” Hicks said.
Dogs Caught In Traps All Over Wyoming
Jester was caught in a trap set near a road outside of Afton that’s a popular spot for residents to take their dogs for off-lease romps.
The bills’ primary sponsor, Sen. Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, said he also takes his dog for walks there.
Jester’s death inspired Barber to form “Jester’s Legacy,” a coalition of pet owners, trappers and others focused on trapping reform.
Dogs getting caught in traps is all too common, said some Wyoming residents who testified before the committee.
Retired University of Wyoming pathologist Donal O’Toole said he has a friend who was severely bittern by her own dog when she tried to free it from a leg trap along the highway in Sybille Canyon near Laramie in 2018.
The woman eventually found someone to help her free the dog, which suffered bruising and soft tissue damage to one of its paws, O’Toole said.
Although the trap the dog stepped in, along with some others, were “legally placed,” they still presented a threat to pets, he said.
“They were set in a daft location, around a car park,” he said.
Karen Zoller of Pavillion told the committee that her dog, Mack, was “brutally killed” in a snare trap in 2020.
Leslie Patten, who lives in the Sunlight Basin northwest of Cody, said her dog was caught in a foothold trap that had been placed near a public restroom near a trailhead.
She said she freed her dog, which wasn’t seriously hurt, because she’d previously studied how traps work.
“The trap was really rusty,” she said. “You can just be stymied on how to release them.”
Dockstader said trapping reform is important as more people take to the outdoors with their pets.
“It’s not necessarily the Old West, we’re not settling the West anymore. People are moving here, in great numbers,” he said.
In another high-profile case, three Saint Bernard dogs were killed in snare traps after their family let them roam in the hills near Casper in 2014.
Parents Robert and Ashely Cardenas, along with the children, sued the trapper.
In 2023, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled against the family, finding that the trapper couldn’t be held liable because the family had let their dogs run loose and unsupervised.
Details Would Be Up To Game And Fish
SF 139 calls for traps set for furbearing or predatory animals to be set back at least 30 feet from frequently used areas on public land.
There was some discussion of whether that would be far enough. Determining distance requirements would be left up to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission.
Working out the exact setback distance, and other possible trapping reforms, could take several months, Game and Fish Wildlife Division Chief Craig Smith told the committee.
The agency would go through a public meeting and comment process before bringing a recommendation before the Game and Fish Commission, he said.
Under the bill, trappers would also be required to check their lines at least every 72 hours.
Some Wyoming trappers previously told Cowboy State Daily that they already inspect their trap lines frequently — to check for animals or to make sure that traps haven’t been vandalized or stolen.
Professional predator trapper Jamie Olson, who has worked in several states, told the committee that some states require trappers to post notice of traps they set near public trailheads.
That would be a good rule for Wyoming to adopt, he said.
Roll Call
The committee voted unanimously to forward Senate File 139. The ayes include Hicks, along with Sens. Bill Landen, R-Casper; Brian Boner, R-Douglas; Stacy Jones, R-Rock Springs; and Wendy Schuler R-Evanston.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
