If you have a persistent raccoon problem there are more humane ways to solve it than to place a trap made out of steel (Steel! Something that snaps shut and can break bones) that eventualy managed to lead to the amputation of a helpless animal's paw; an animal that could have very well been someone’s cat, someone’s dog, or even worse, someone’s unsuspecting child.
Around 5:30 p.m. on a Monday night, someone called the Animal Health Clinic in NDG to report what appeared to be a distressed raccoon, caught between a rock and a fence in the yard of a Roslyn Avenue residence in Upper Westmount.
When animal clinic employee, Annly Ho (acting purely out of the kindness of her heart; they are not trained in and/or authorized for wildlife rescue) went to the scene, she found Westmount’s Public Security Unit trying to help the animal. Upon closer inspection, they found out that the raccoon was unable to move because it had been trapped in a steel jaw trap. A real trap that a hunters use to trap live animals in the woods!
“The poor thing was so exhausted trying to free himself from the trap that when I arrived, he was curled up in a ball and could barely move,” Annly told us.
She proceeded to call one of the clinic’s vets, Dr. Gilmour, who rushed over and sedated the animal, freed its paw and then transported it to the clinic. Because it appears that the wound was not fresh (translation: that poor animal had been suffering for days), the vet will have to amputate its paw sometime this week.
Aside from the obvious: steel traps are illegal and the person who decided to install one in the backyard of a densely residential community should be prosecuted, or at the very least, have to pay a very hefty fine, where is our sense of compassion? Deliberately placing something that can inflict such pain and such damage goes against the very image of Westmount residents as avid animal lovers. Or does that love stop with your own dog?
The poor thing was so exhausted trying to free himself from the trap that when I arrived, he was curled up in a ball and could barely move, - Animal Health Clinic employee Annly Ho
We understand that raccoons can be bothersome little pests, going through your garbage and making a mess in their attempt to find something to eat, but nothing should justify such an act.
About a year ago, someone placed a steel trap on Nuns’ Island, in an attempt to deter beavers from damaging their property. The result? A small dog got caught in the trap. Will a child be next?
The police should investigate immediately and the appropriate charges should be filed. If someone can afford to own a home in Westmount, then it goes without saying that they can also afford to solve their raccoon problem in a more humane way. There’s no excuse for such heinous behaviour.
