SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A family is happy their dog is safe after spending three hours trapped in a metal snare late last month, but the pet owners want to help prevent other dogs from being trapped in future.
After their year-and-a-half old black Lab was caught in a snare on March 30, Bella's family is relieved she is safe and happy. Here, Bella, front, gets some love from fellow dog Pepsi, left, owners Austin Sparks, Craig Letto and Candice Sparks last week. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo |
Candice Spark's year-and-a-half-old black Lab mix, Bella, was snared just off the property line of Proform Concrete Services on Currie Drive, where she had been roaming at around 3 p.m. on March 30. The snare had been tied to a tree in a small grove between two neighbouring properties.
For three hours, the pair searched for Bella around the property and in the surrounding neighbourhood.
"It was very stressful," said Sparks. "Then I saw her. She's black and was blending in and just lying there because she knew she couldn't move," said Sparks. "If I didn't happen to have heard her, she would have stayed there and died."
The metal wire was so tight around Bella's neck she could not bark, and the dog was having trouble breathing.
They quickly cut the snare from the tree and rushed her to the Yellowknife Vet Clinic, where Dr. Michael Hughes and Spark's boyfriend Craig Letto cut the snare. Letto works at Proform Concrete Services near where the snare was set.
Sparks does not accept the idea that being snared should be accepted as a consequence for a dog roaming without a tether.
"She's an obedient dog and was on her own property. Why would I tie her up?" said Sparks. "I think the point is the snare was illegal and it was on private property."
Bella's owners are holding out little hope that whoever set the snare will be found and charged.
There are many reasons why a person would set a snare, Sparks acknowledged, but anyone who is familiar with the Kam Lake neighbourhood knows many dogs are in the area and should know setting a trap poses an unnecessary danger.
"I don't really care what the situation was, I just want it to stop," she said.
Investigating snares and traps set within city limits is the responsibility of the City of Yellowknife, said Environment and Natural Resources spokesperson Judy McLinton last week.
Under a city snare and trap bylaw, setting traps within one kilometre of a home or business within city limits is illegal.
The maximum penalty is a summary conviction and a fine up to $2,000.
City bylaw officers are investigating the incident.
