Owen Sound Times Articles

The local paper has been writing articles all this week about trapping in the area. Several dogs have been killed in conibear traps locally. The MNRs response has been to remind dog owners that their pet should be leashed in areas with wildlife to avoid harassment. I get that but what about if the dog is accompanying a hunter?

I hunt grouse with a cocker spaniel. She has zero interest in any other wildlife. How do I avoid a trap encounter? I was told by a licensed ttrapper in the Ottawa Valley that conibears are either set in elevated box traps for marten or underwater for beaver and muskrat. I'm surprised to find they can be set on the ground with a marshmallow as a bait.Is this a legal set with a conibear?

Can somebody educate me here

The next article in the paper did indicate the conibear can be set on the ground. Trappers in Eastern Ontario have attempted to pressure the Provincial Trappers Association and the MNR to make these sets illegal. It has fallen on deaf ears.

I would suggest the Trappers Association get out in front of this before public pressure is brought to bear and they are handed new regulations by the government.

All licensed trappers in southern Ontario require written permission from the landowner to trap, that includes county forests, parks, ditches, road allowances, etc. These dogs that are getting caught in traps, do they have permission from the landowner to let there dogs run unleashed? In the municipality that I trap, all dogs are required to be leashed. As a trapper I have laws to follow, dog owners have laws to follow too.....not just for their safety, but for the public. My wife was eight months pregnant and was tackled to the ground by a unleashed dog, a couple nights in the hospital her and the baby were fine.....so I’m not a big fan of any dog being off the leash, just like some people are not fans of trappers.
When I set up on a property, I always ask the land owner if there any pets that have access. If no pets, I then explain the sets I’m using, and tell them that they will kill a pet if caught. If they say that John Doe is seen walking his dog on the property line twice a week then I change my sets so that they don’t kill.

Trappers have a responsibility to make their sets for the conditions at hand to ensure that they don’t trap a nontarget critter,and of course follow the law. Dog owners have a responsibility to control there dogs and follow the law too.

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Originally Posted by Skull1

All licensed trappers in southern Ontario require written permission from the landowner to trap, that includes county forests, parks, ditches, road allowances, etc. These dogs that are getting caught in traps, do they have permission from the landowner to let there dogs run unleashed? In the municipality that I trap, all dogs are required to be leashed. As a trapper I have laws to follow, dog owners have laws to follow too.....not just for their safety, but for the public. My wife was eight months pregnant and was tackled to the ground by a unleashed dog, a couple nights in the hospital her and the baby were fine.....so I’m not a big fan of any dog being off the leash, just like some people are not fans of trappers.
When I set up on a property, I always ask the land owner if there any pets that have access. If no pets, I then explain the sets I’m using, and tell them that they will kill a pet if caught. If they say that John Doe is seen walking his dog on the property line twice a week then I change my sets so that they don’t kill.

Trappers have a responsibility to make their sets for the conditions at hand to ensure that they don’t trap a nontarget critter,and of course follow the law. Dog owners have a responsibility to control there dogs and follow the law too.

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Excellent reply, I suspect that the majority of the domestic animals caught are the fault of the owners who let them off leash because they don't need to "follow" the leash rules.

https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ne...s-common-sense

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Originally Posted by Skull1

All licensed trappers in southern Ontario require written permission from the landowner to trap, that includes county forests, parks, ditches, road allowances, etc. These dogs that are getting caught in traps, do they have permission from the landowner to let there dogs run unleashed? In the municipality that I trap, all dogs are required to be leashed. As a trapper I have laws to follow, dog owners have laws to follow too.....not just for their safety, but for the public. My wife was eight months pregnant and was tackled to the ground by a unleashed dog, a couple nights in the hospital her and the baby were fine.....so I’m not a big fan of any dog being off the leash, just like some people are not fans of trappers.
When I set up on a property, I always ask the land owner if there any pets that have access. If no pets, I then explain the sets I’m using, and tell them that they will kill a pet if caught. If they say that John Doe is seen walking his dog on the property line twice a week then I change my sets so that they don’t kill.

Trappers have a responsibility to make their sets for the conditions at hand to ensure that they don’t trap a nontarget critter,and of course follow the law. Dog owners have a responsibility to control there dogs and follow the law too.

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I totally agree with you about off leash dogs. My problem is with a spaniel that I'm hunting with. She'd get nailed for sure. I hunt crownland mostly.

Just curious as to why you can't use a dog resistant trap set all the time. You mention if the landowner identifies dogs walking on his property you use different techniques. Time consuming? Not as efficient?

BTW. I'm certainly not anti just wondering how to coexist.

Every trapper south of the French river requires written permission to trap even on crown land. When I trap a parcel of land that the public has access to, all my land sets are live restraining sets. On private land.....I judge what’s the safest. The article in the Suntimes doesn’t say for sure that the couple walking the property had written permission to walk there dog on the golf course.

Live sets by law have to be checked every 24hrs preferably in the morning. Conibears don’t require to be checked everyday. I prefer conibears.....that’s just me.....do I use them all the time.......NO. It all depends on the situation. There are some years that I only use dog proof legholds.....no conibears. It all depends on the situation and location.

If you are worried about crown land, look into who looks after it, ie. Provincial Park, MNR, Conservation authority, ask them if there is anyone trapping the land...they will know.
There is a strip of crown land beside a property I trap. The nearest Provincal Park looks after it......hunting is allowed. I asked the Park permission to trap water sets for mink....but it was decided that with the amount of people using the trails that I was denied permission to trap. Although I’m pretty confident that I can trap mink without any issues....I have to respect their decision.

Dano O, there is absolutely no reason why body gripper kill traps need to be set on the ground, other than it's a perceived right for trappers to do so because it's allowed in the regs. I've trapped for 35 years now and all my fisher, marten, and racoon sets are elevated out of dog range, using either a pail or box cubby on a running pole. I've never had any problem luring the target animal to run the pole to encounter the baited cubby. Any trapper that argues you'll catch more on the ground in a blind trail set, etc. has not been trapping for very long. Why would you want the animal trapped on the ground anyway, as there is a very good chance it will get damaged grade from mice, soiled fur , and possibly belly taint from the part of the carcass that was insulated from contact with the ground. How can you feel OK about leaving a baited kill trap on the ground knowing that there is a very good chance someone's dog is going to die in it? Did your neighbour's yellow Lab from two farms over read the latest copy of the regs before he did his daily walk across the property to come visit the kids and play with your dog. So you have a registered line on crown land that gives you the privelege to be the sole manager of the fur populations on that block of land. How can you possibly not think of the others who will also legally access and use that same piece of land? eg. the licenced hunter who's walking all the trails with his pointer, hoping to shoot a grouse, the hunter running two beagles on snowshoe hare, the couple from the city who are at the cottage and bring the kids and dog for a walk in the bush. The dog is legally off leash, under supervision and control by the owner, not "running at large" as specified by definition under the FWCA, but goes and investigates something that smells real good, 50 yds off the trail they're walking on. So as a trapper, you're going to argue that they should have known better and you have the right to set your kill traps on the ground?
There's a pile of non-thinking going on and OFMF is not seeing the trees because of the forest on this one. They're investing all their time and resources in an attempt to do damage control on the never -ending wave of dog kill events, while adamantly resisting any logical improvement to the regulations. They should be leading the push to revise the regs.
The public has had enough and rightly so. Social media and petitions will force regulation changes soon once MNR gets pressured. I wonder if there will be any industry left.

Thanks Fenelon, very well thought out and written, using a lot of common sense.

As a trapper it's frustrating to see the stance that ofmf has/is taking on this issue. They've done some really good beefing on their course training manual to emphasize humane trapping techniques and dog friendly sets. The problem is the material is not mandatory under law, and the trapper education approach does not seem to be working, as we continue to see trappers doing ground sets and killing dogs. Perhaps it's also time to make it law that all farmers must take the provincial fur course if they are going to be in possession of traps and are going to trap on their own property. Mnr is to blame for some of the problems the industry is facing. They've gone and legalized the use of rcrs by a bunch of untrained trappers and farmers. Ofmf pushed hard to get mandatory training as a requirement for use of the equipment. Mnr balked on it so now we have a pile of lethal snares being set by trappers and some farmers in southern Ontario.