Pat Shermet was not at all happy when her dog Roxy came home with a horrible wound to her paw -- the result of a trapper's snare -- last week. The dog underwent surgery last Thursday that cost Shermet $500. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

The Labrador-husky mix is now recuperating after surgery to remove her left front leg. It was caught in a trapper's snare about 10 kilometres out of town off Highway 3.

Roxy's owner, Pat Shermet, who lives with her husband and several other dogs on a property outside city limits, says she has a good idea who set the snare that caused such misery for her dog, but she'd rather keep that to herself.

Shermet just wants that person or persons to know how sickened she was when her dog came limping home after going missing for a week.

The wound on Roxy's leg was so bad that the flesh had begun to rot away, exposing the bone.

The snare was likely a copper wire variety used to catch rabbits and other small game.

"We don't know where these snares are, they don't tell us where they are," says Shermet.

"If they have to put stupid snares out for rabbits and stuff then tell us. We have dogs out there, and why should these dogs be trapped.

"My dog was lucky enough to free herself but in the end, how lucky was she?"

Expensive operation

Roxy had her operation at Great Slave Animal Hospital last Thursday. The surgery cost Shermet $500, not including additional expenses for antibiotics.

Shermet wouldn't say how many dogs she keeps on her 60-acre property, but says another five of them have gone missing over the last month. She suspects they have all met a similar but worse fate than Roxy.

Veterinarian Dr. Tom Pisz says he's only seen the occasional dog come in with injuries resulting from snares or traps -- about once a year.

He says Roxy's situation is unfortunate, but not easily remedied considering where Shermet lives -- outside city limits where trapping is legal.

"There's people trapping there, there's nothing we can really do about it," says Pisz. "It's not like the traps are in town."

Anyone can set snare - with licence

Ernie Campbell, a wildlife officer with Renewable Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development, says any resident with a small game hunting licence, which costs $10, can set snares as long as it's outside city limits. Aboriginal treaty card holders don't need a licence.

Campbell says he's never heard of a dog getting caught in a rabbit snare, but has heard of people's pets winding up on the wrong side of leg-hold traps in the past, which are no longer used.

If he's received complaints for anything, it's from trappers complaining of loose dogs in the bush, chasing away game and being a nuisance in general.

"There was a trapper who was kind of concerned about dogs along the highway (this fall)," says Campbell.

"They're interfering with his traps."

Campbell says RWED officers have the authority to shoot loose dogs if they're found harassing big game animals, but the situation is more complicated when the dogs are allowed to roam free on a residential property outside of a community's boundaries.

The department is currently determining what enforcement options are open to them.

"As far as people out there having dogs loose and living out on the land, we're trying to determine whether RWED could do anything on that one," said Campbell.

Regardless, Shermet just wants pet owners along Highway 3 to beware of the dangers that face them.

"I just want dog owners to be aware of what is out there and what is going on," says Shermet. "Everybody who owns dogs out there, they run free. Who are they hurting? They're not hurting anybody.

"If I got 60 acres for my dog to run in, I shouldn't have to worry about being trapped in a snare."