KAYSVILLE, Utah — One Farmington woman is raising awareness about animal traps near local, public trails in Davis County.
The resident, who asked not to be identified, frequently visits the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in Kaysville. She goes for walks with her friends, family and dog. She’s never had any issues, up until January 27.
She accessed the trail in Kaysville and headed towards Bear Canyon with her dog, Rad.
“He has terminal lymphoma, so I decided his happy place and my place of solace was in the mountains and I thought let’s get out and go for a walk. Process this and we’ll have a good cry,” the woman said.
She didn’t know one of their last walks together would turn out the way it did.
“I heard a very loud sound that seemed almost out of context, metal clashing,” she said. "A large game trap came out of the ground hit my dog in the face and took hold of his front paw."
She says her dog was caught in an animal trap that was hidden under the dirt just off the trail. When they were walking along the trail she said they noticed a dead fox close to the walkway and their curiosity veered them in that direction.
When her dog was caught in the trap, she called 911, then animal control, but she said neither responded to the incident. Instead, she was able to dislodge the trap and get her dog to safety on her own.
When her friends heard about the story they knew they needed to spread awareness.
“If we can find solutions to mark traps better, to have some more restrictions of how close they can be to public hiking trails that are very popular,” Aubree, another Farmington resident, said. "This isn’t backcountry, this is right in Davis County. If we had something to mark it. Inevitably people are going to go a little off the trail. Kids, dogs, people. We just don’t want that to happen to anyone else.”
According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, they said trappers are required to include a tag number on the trap, have spacers on the trap to avoid injury to non-target animals, and check their traps every 48 hours, among other things.
DWR added that they discourage traps being placed near public trails and high traffic areas, due to potential conflicts.
DNR Division of Law Enforcement investigated the incident. They said they received a report regarding a dog that was caught in a foothold trap about 40 yds from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in Davis County.
They added that the husband of the dog’s owner later returned to the location and observed the trap near where the fox had been. When an officer arrived to investigate, both the trap and the fox had been removed from the site. A search of the immediate area did not locate any additional traps.
The dog owner and her friend Aubree still are upset about the lack of restrictions.
“I hate that I have that fear of going out on my favorite trail with friends, my dog and to worry about that,” Aubree said.
While Rad walked away from the incident with trauma to the face, broken teeth, and a bruised paw they said they’re lucky things weren’t worse.
“With how active the community members are in Utah how accessible we try to make our trials on our mountainsides. Our laws need to change. This cannot be legal this close to public lands and trails," said Rad.
They also created flyers to raise awareness at local trailheads. They’re working with their cities to establish a presence in the area.
