What can you do?
Letting your dog off-leash and letting your cat outdoors is taking a chance. The kindest thing you can do for your dog is to keep it on a leash, within sight, and to remain on well-used paths and roadways. In most municipalities and on crown land it is illegal to let your dog run off- leash.
Trapping occurs for several reasons including wildlife management, research, resolving wildlife conflicts and commercial fur harvesting. Trapping is well regulated under provincial regulations and professional trappers must take training to obtain a provincial license.
Find out if trapping is allowed in the area in which you and your dog are walking. In general, traps with a potential risk to your pet can be installed from October through April. Be even more vigilant than usual during this time.
It is rare to capture pets in traps but it can happen. In Canada far more pets are hit by cars than caught in traps.
If you walk your dog in wildlife habitat during fur harvesting season, in areas where traps and snares may be set, familiarize yourself with the methods to release a dog from a trap or snare. Your knowledge of these methods could save your dog’s life. See; Removing Your Dog From a Trap or Snare, http://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/sustainable/pdf/PetOwners.pdf.
Also see the FIC’s PDFs available for print below
