Laurena Jensen decided to take her 8-year-old yellow Lab, Molly Rose, for an afternoon walk that Thursday. It is one of the great joys of owning a dog, enjoying the fresh air and companionship that makes that part of life oh, so worthwhile.
Beginning from their home in Romulus, the two began their walk toward the former Seneca Army Depot site where they would continue along the site’s fenced perimeter.
Just minutes after the accompanying photo was taken of Molly Rose and Laurena’s shadow, tragedy struck.
They were technically in the town of Varick, and Molly Rose — while on a leash — was doing what Labs normally do: sniffing around.
Little did Laurena know that at various points along the fence there are openings at the bottom — many of them purposely cut — where traps are being baited and set.
The bait easily lures many types of animals, including Molly Rose.
In an instant, a Conibear 220 trap was triggered, snapping shut around the Lab’s neck.
It’s the type of trap that would normally take two people to open — let alone one 18-year-old girl walking her dog. Shocked and desperate for help, Laurena called 911 and her dad.
The wait was one of the longest and most frantic of her life. After about 20 minutes, a sheriff’s deputy was the first to arrive, about the same time as her dad, Brian. Soon after, a state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officer also arrived.
They were too late to save Molly Rose.
Brian Jensen carried the pet home. Molly Rose was buried on the family property.
The next day Brian walked 15 miles (and then back) to survey the depot fencing. Brian said he found 10 more trap-filled holes and at least a dozen more locations where traps had been removed. All the traps he saw had been placed directly on the ground.
It wasn’t too hard to figure out whose traps they were; many were tagged with one of two names. What is hard to imagine is how many other traps could possibly be set around the entire depot and inside the fenced area, too.
Thanks to social media, more and more people are becoming aware of Molly Rose’s death and are outraged by the details surrounding it.
Dale Dyson, a licensed trapper from Seneca Falls, said the size of the traps being used is illegal. They are very powerful with an inherent danger about them. Dyson and others I’ve talked with say traps of that size are supposed to be placed several feet off the ground, with the exception of hunting for beaver or otter, when they can be placed in the water.
The jaw spread of the Conibear 220 is about 8-by-8 inches, while a 330 Conibear (which Brian Jensen also found at the depot) measures 10-by-10 inches.
Body-gripping traps of this type are designed to kill animals quickly. They often are called “Conibear” traps after Canadian inventor Frank Conibear. When they work as intended, animals are caught squarely on the neck. Supposedly, they do not suffer, nor is there a chance for escape. Not a good thing for a domesticated house pet such as a dog or cat.
Animals in the wild are trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, pest control and wildlife management. Some pelts bring a hefty profit, although there is no way to know if that was the goal of these trappers.
Many of the fence openings that have been cut may be large enough for white deer to get through, let alone become trapped. Like many in rural Seneca County, Brian Jensen is familiar with hunting and says some of the traps have been set sideways, an indication that they may be used to catch deer.
Dennis Money of the nonprofit organization Seneca White Deer Inc. is worried about the white deer population and has a gut feeling their numbers are decreasing. He said he saw only a handful of the precious herd during the last depot tour he participated in.
Money fears the white deer are being snared or trapped and then sold. Their unique furs can bring as much as $3,000 apiece, he noted, at a time when prices for other pelts and furs have hit rock bottom, according to New York Outdoor News.
Wayne Brewer of Seneca Falls is the president of the New York State Outdoor Writers’ Association. In a recent column he wrote, Brewer noted that one longtime depot hunter told him that by day 10 of the season only 28 deer had been harvested in his zone, compared to about 130 the same time last year. He reported that the same hunter said one white buck had been taken and estimated there were no more than 30 white deer currently remaining.
These are alarming figures. A question that needs to be raised is what part of the decline is due to illegal traps?
What else can get trapped? Raccoons, cats, fox, muskrat, skunk, coyote — and does it not seem too far-fetched to imagine a curious, small child accidentally setting one off?
Presently, three other families living near the depot say they have dogs missing, and they are worried their pets suffered the same fate as Molly Rose.
The preferred way for trappers to prevent pets and children from getting hurt is to place a legal-sized trap inside a box with one end open toward the depot interior land.
That was not the case with the trap that caught Molly Rose, probably because these trappers wanted to get animals that were both coming and going from either side of the fence.
Brian Jensen believes the trappers are working from inside the depot, easily navigating from trap to trap via various roads. To get inside that area of the depot, and at odd hours of the day, a key is needed.
Since the Seneca County Industrial Development Agency is in the process of accepting bids to purchase about 7,000 of the property’s nearly 10,700 acres, I wondered if the agency was aware of who possesses keys.
I called IDA Deputy Director Patricia Jones, who told me that maintenance and control of the site is still under contract with the Army. Steve Absolom, former base environmental coordinator, would have been the person overseeing things and reporting to the Army Corps of Engineers, but he recently left his position.
Money says only one caretaker remains at the depot, and the Army is reducing its maintenance funding.
It’s unlikely anyone from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department or DEC routinely checks, inspects or enforces the land, thus making it very easy for trappers and anyone else with a key to avoid detection.
Brian Jensen said years ago many area residents would drive their ATVs around the outside of the depot perimeter; consequently, their constant presence limited this sort of trapping at the fence. But since a roadblock was created at the south end of the site, ATV activity has greatly diminished.
Two men are of special interest in an investigation being led by Environmental Conservation Officer and Game Warden Scott Angotti regarding the illegal traps. The Finger Lakes Times will provide continuing coverage of this case.
Brian Jensen is hoping Seneca County District Attorney Barry Porsch will charge those caught with animal cruelty.
On Jan. 13, six days after the incident, Laurena Jensen still had bruises on her body from her attempts to save her beloved dog from the vice-like grip of the Conibear 220. Those visual marks don’t compare to the emotional anguish she has endured.
Her father vows his fight is not over. Brian Jensen hopes proper justice is served against those responsible for what happened to Molly Rose and Laurena, and a clear message is sent to others: If you are trapping, do it in safely and legally.
I disagree. How about we finish this article with a better solution? BAN TRAPPING. Period.
Do cats and dogs suffer when caught in traps? Of course. Therefore, wolves, coyotes, skunks, foxes, beavers, raccoons, birds, opossums, squirrels, etc. ALSO SUFFER when caught in traps.
 |
| Jamie Olson encourages his dogs to attack a trapped coyote, which is already dehydrated and weak from its earlier struggles to escape the leghold trap. They rip the coyote to pieces. |
(Finger Lakes Times - Jan 18, 2016)
No comments:
Post a Comment