Pet parents: look out for dangerous traps

This month has been a turbulent one for wildlife. Our Emergency Rescue team is responding to a high volume of springtime rescue calls, and one recent incident involved a raccoon whose arm was crushed in a cruel hand trap. She had been trapped for 3 days, and the trap acted as a tourniquet which kept her from bleeding to death. We immediately removed her from the trap and transported her to a wildlife rehabilitator; the raccoon will lose her hand, but escaped with her life.

That same week, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) passed a proposal which allows squirrels, cottontail rabbits, opossums and other animals deemed “nuisances” to be trapped and killed without a permit. That means it's now legal for people to place cruel traps such as this one wherever and whenever they choose on their property, which poses a danger not only to wildlife but also to pets. Dogs and cats are accidentally lost every day; it is estimated that 1 in 3 pets are lost in their lifetime. Pet parents must now be on the lookout, and should consider communicating with neighbors to help prevent these traps from being used near their property.

We understand why people get frustrated with wild animals. But we see their suffering first-hand when cruel tactics are used, and we urge our community to consider humane wildlife management solutions. They are popular, effective, and do not result in mutilated, terrified animals in our backyards; backyards which are in fact those animals' homes too. We provide information on our website at https://www.hshv.org/get-help/wildlife/, and our Resuce Team is availalbe for humane wildlife removal help in Washtenaw County: 734-661-3512.