Hello fellow trappers! I am doing research for my state trapping organization on pet safe sets.

The intent is to give fellow trappers set options that may help avoid conflict with pet owners.

I know there are different rules and regulations in each state that have been enacted to avoid conflict with pet owners and I would love to hear them.

The only ones that I can think of are,

Elevated sets 4-5 ft off the ground.

Submerged

Under ice

Enclosed with a 4 inch opening

6 - 8 inch inset on boxes with coni's

What are your states requirements? And do you know why that requirement was enacted?

If you have suggestions, thoughts, ideas on this topic I would love to hear them.

There is alot of experienced trappers on this forum and your input would be greatly appreciated! Feel free to PM me.

My advice is RUN away from whatever project you're working on. Once something gets enacted it'll never go away and the strangulations (regulations) will just keep getting worse.

We have two dumb laws in our state. No bait larger than a golf ball and no trapping within 100 feet of the road. Thankfully, neither of those laws are enforced much.

Other than that, we can still use 330s on private land and 220s on public... no other restrictions really to speak of.

Both of the "ideas" you mentioned started as failures in other states where trapping associations fought against those "recommendations" and lost.

Again... run. NOTHING good can come from what you're trying to do.

yotetrapper30 -

Nope not running away from trying to preserve what we currently have in my state. The goal is NOT to enact anything but to give fellow trappers options that will help prevent user conflict. Hearing your regulations and why they were implemented helps me gain knowledge on what needs to be avoided.

OK. Well this certainly isn't something that should be discussed on an open forum so I bow out.

I told you what our regulations are already.

If you want to avoid conflict with pet owners teach them to keep their pets at home or on a leash and not let them run loose all over the dang place.

ADC I 100 percent agree with that!!!! But we both know that will never be the case. Heck we have a leash law up here that many do not comply with. We do out reach to the major dog groups to mitigate conflict it helps some but there is always that one guy........................

If you must pursue this, cross the road and push for pet owners to have to purchase a license, attend a pet owner class and pass a state test to become a pet owner.

competent Trappers already KNOW how to reduce conflicts.

as you said, it is irresponsible PET OWNERS who are the problem.

Push for pet owners to be held criminally liable with endangerment if they let their animals run loose unsupervised. If we're going to live in a society where animals have more rights than humans there should be criminal penalties for irresponsible (dogs running loose) pet owners.

It sounds like most of the regulations you mentioned apply to body-grippers. In PA it is illegal to use or set a body-gripping traps of any description outside any established watercourse, waterway, marsh, pond or dam.

Cubbies can be used in conjunction with body-grippers but the cubby cannot have an opening of more than 50 sq. in., traps no larger than 6.5" X 6.5" and the triggers must be recessed from the opening at least 7"

Also, we are allowed the use of non-lethal cable restraints which are heavily regulated to ensure they are non-lethal.

The use of footholds is another story. There is not much you can do to avoid non-target pet catches in certain areas other than simply not trapping those areas. And that is sometimes a good, commonsense solution. I will not trap State Game Lands (PA's public hunting grounds) where I know pheasants are stocked because I know there will be dozens of dogs all over those areas for months.

Likewise trappers should avoid public areas such as parks and places folks walk their dogs. That is also commonsense.

On private land it's a different story. I trap in a fairly well-populated area with lots of urban sprawl. I have had many encounters with folks and their dogs. In every incident they threatened to sue me for vet bill costs, threatened to report me to the police and PA Game commission, smashed my traps, stole my traps. Also in every incident, they were illegally trespassing on land they had no permission to be on.

I never paid any vet bills, usually because there were none. I was never fined or cited by the police or PGC because I am always 100% legal in my trapping methods and gaining annual permissions. .

I have been successful in having several of these folks prosecuted for trap tampering and theft.

My recommendations for avoiding these conflicts are one; educate trappers to use commonsense in where they set on public ground. And two; educate pet owners on trespass and private property laws and enforce those laws.

An option is cages. You can release whatever you catch easily.
Here you cannot trap within a couple yards of any inhabited dwelling or feedlot with owners permission. That’s not foolproof for what you seek but probably has some merit.
Public areas have some restrictions too. Stay back same distances from developed areas.
Some of this is just common sense. Restrictions on size of body grips and whether submerged. We have some of that too.
Leash laws are good for the other side of this discussion.

Trapper education is key.
Stay away from regs mandating any type of sets.
There are sets that can be made by trappers that will restrict dogs,Teach trappers about these options if they must make sets near the public domain.
Personally the best dog proof set is trappers having the discretion to not make a set at all where the public uses regularly.Unfortunately common sense is hard to teach.
You should be able to find pet proof sets at the FIC (Fur institute of Canada) website or the OFMF (Ontario Fur Managers Federation) website.

There’s a law here that basically reads that it’s unlawful to set within 50 feet of a mowed/maintained area of a state recreation area. I assume that simiiar rules could apply to a state park also if the park allows trapping as by default parks are closed. My understanding is it diesnt apply to state game areas which tend to be undeveloped.

Don’t know when it was enacted maybe someone else will chime in on that. Obviously an attempt to try and avoid dog hunter and walker conflicts on public sites. I do recall incidents in past when fur markets were better and folks got the bad idea to set right off parking lots etc. One was pretty highly publicized where I grew up and made news with body gripper and bird dog at a heavily used waterfowl refuge. My dog got caught last year in a coyote set on state game area. Legal set but pretty poorly thought out as on a levee for man made waterfowl flooding.

If you restrain a dog for 8 hours or longer( could be days) in a cable restraint or foothold at -20F or below, what happens to the dog? What if the dog escapes from a sled dog yard? Or just people running sled dogs on public land. I believe less than 5 percent of Alaska is private land. Things are different in Alaska.

I'll modify Hobbies comment. Push for pet owners to also have a license/permit to have there pets on public property.

Agreed on pet owners with let them run loose all over. In town here. Where all stray cats come from that I feed in carport . In last year I seen 8 different ones an no idea whose are. Some disappear an come back later or new ones, the thing I don't like is free roam dogs, just walk in town, a lil. Not lot, if do much all. Dog attacks. One was pull a flimsy stake anong chain a few weeks ago an lucky it tangle in park car or I been victims

I'm with the folks that say trappers just need to use common sense, but I'm not sure you can teach that. Look at how many support the democrats and its plain to see they'd take our rights awzy!

Been a lot of good advice already posted. Hard to believe sled dogs would be let to run loose when the musher stops to rest. You would think anybody traveling by dog sled would familiarize their self on traps and snares to quickly release one that was supposed to be pulling.

Dirt, you already know the answer.

X2 when I do a beaver job and dogs are running if they don’t want to lock them up I tell them upfront 750 and drowning rod it’s over for the dog it doesn’t matter to me but most will lock the dogs up for a few days or usually I’ll let them keep the beavers to avoid a conflict

Who said this? Dogs get loose. One got loose here during the Iditarod. I saw him a few times before he was caught ( not in a trap ) by somebody. If a musher's lead dog gets caught in a trap close to a trail, do you think he/she is happy about it? It is known as "user conflict". Just like I am not happy when a fleet of go fasters go down a trail I built and maintain and run all over my wolf gear. Unfortunately, they have the legal right to run down my trail.