Illegal leg-hold traps still maiming, killing wildlife

WEYMOUTH — Wildlife advocates are speaking out about leg-hold traps that are illegal in Massachusetts but continue to be used, critically and irreversibly injuring animals.

A post on Facebook Sunday showing a scrawny coyote with its leg stuck in a leg-hold trap, dragging a chain behind it, brought renewed attention to the issue. But for wildlife rehabilitators, it’s a constant problem – and a preventable one.

Dr. Greg Mertz, a veterinarian at New England Wildlife Center’s Weymouth location, has seen raccoons, squirrels and rabbits, among other animals come into the clinic severely injured by leg-hold traps.

“They’re inhumane, and they definitely are illegal,” said Mertz of the traps that have been banned in Massachusetts for decades. “It’s embedded in part of our culture to be able to take care of animals this way, and… people are not thinking about what they’re actually doing.”

The facility’s Cape Cod branch is currently treating a Great Horned Owl that was caught in a leg-hold trap in Dartmouth. Its bone was snapped into a few pieces and much of the skin is missing. Doctors are optimistic the owl will recover enough to reenter the wild but it will do so with what is now a life-long injury.

“The Great Horned Owl has a real uphill battle. It’s a guarded prognosis because the owl’s spirits, attitude… are good,” Mertz said. “So, I think in the long run what we’re aiming for is not just necessarily a fully functional leg but one that will function partially enough to bare some of the weight of the owl.”

But other animals caught in similar traps are not as lucky. Newhouse Wildlife Rescue of Chelmsford recently took in two raccoons injured in leg-hold traps.

Their limbs were crushed, and the damage was irreversible.

“These guys need their front limbs for foraging and catching prey, so they would not be releasable with [their limbs] amputated,” founder Jane Newhouse told Boston 25 News by phone Monday. “Both had to be humanely euthanized.”

The continued use of leg-hold traps is disheartening for those who spend their lives protecting animals. Wildlife advocates are urging the public not to use them.

Local animal control officers are monitoring the whereabouts of the coyote last seen in Northampton, and Environmental Police are investigating the case. Anyone who sees the coyote or has information is urged to call Environmental Police Dispatch at 800-632-8075.

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