In the past two years, two dogs accompanied by their owners on the Bureau of Land Management property adjacent to residences on Rio Arriba County Road 101 in Chimayó, were caught in game traps.
The traps were hidden. There was no flag to indicate their locations, which would at least have notified a person. It is impossible to open the metal traps and they were staked to the ground.
There is no cell phone service back there. Owners had to run back to their homes to get help, leaving their distressed animals behind. Vehicle transportation is unavailable.
I weigh 112 pounds. My dog weighs 64 pounds. I think it would be impossible for me to carry him, even if I were able to dislodge the trap.
And it could have been a person’s foot that got caught. Or it could have been a child’s foot that was mangled. What then? Child, adult, companion pet, or wild creature, it is a desperate situation.
Trapping is not hunting. Trapping is ambushed assassination.
House Bill 366 would ban traps, snares and poisons on public lands, and should be passed.
Sue Farrington
Chimayó