Sherna Nyen's cat Mui Mui was caught in a connibear trap in a Gibsons residential area.
Cat caught in Connibear Trap in Gibsons BC, as residents rally to ban inhumane traps on the Sunshine Coast, will they be heard?
Post your feedback and comments below!
Sherena Nyen shares photos of what happened to her cat in Lower Gibsons this morning on Cochrane Road.
STRONG WARNING! Photos below may be upsetting and disturbing to some readers. Please be advised!
I never knew that this was even possible, how naive I was.
The traps can be purchased for $7 to $22 dollars and are cruel, deadly and harmful to wildlife, pets and children.
Local residents with the help of the Fur-Bearer Defenders have been campaigning to the District of Sechelt, Town of Gibsons, and the Sunshine Coast Regional District to have inhumane traps banned over the past few months, after a dog got caught in a leg hold trap in Sechelt, BC.
CKAY Radio News Reporter Sean Eckford says the Town of Gibsons will be “giving first reading to a bylaw banning traps within town limits this evening…” and “Sechelt is also drafting one. Unfortunately Regional Districts do not have the authority to enact ban bylaws, but they are asking the BC Gov’t to include a ban zone in the hunting regulations for the area. Your director Lorne Lewis will have the details.”
Sherena writes:
I want to Thank the neighbors who found Mui Mui in the barbaric trap. I want to Thank Happy Cat Haven for claiming ownership so she could be seen by the vet at Gibsons Animal Hospital, and I want to thank The Landing Vet Clinic and Eagle Ridge Vet Hospital their support. I hope that Mui Mui has saved other cats and animals from every being caught in the trap again.
This morning Sherena says her neighbor came over and asked her if I have seen her cat Mui Mui, which she hadn’t, which she thought was rather odd.
The neighbour informed Sherena that a woman on Cochrane Road in Gibsons, BC had come over to ask her if she had a black cat, as they had just taken a cat up to Happy Cat Haven that had been caught in a trap next door to them.
She went to Happy Cat Haven were Violet explained a little about what had happened to Mui Mui and that they had taken her to the Gibsons Animal hospital. Sherena went to the animal hospital, described Mui Mui and then was able to see her. She had been given a pain killer, and blood work, unfortunately the x-ray machine had stopped working today so they were unable to use that method of diagnosis to help her.
Sherena then chose to take her to her own vet which is The Landing & Eagle Ridge Animal Hospital, to have Mui Mui’s x-ray done. She was given a steroid shot and also some more IV due to her dehydration.
So far Mui Mui seems to be in stable condition and the Vet at Eagle Ridge has done some x-rays which at the time of this article they have shown there might be a fracture and they still need to monitor her some more.
After leaving Mui Mui at the vet, Sherena went to the kind people who found Mui Mui this morning and let her out of the trap. They also took pictures to document what had happened. (WARNING: See below)
Apparently, Sherena says there have been a multitude of missing cats in the area, and that a man who sets traps in his yard has long been a suspect, but no one could prove anything.
The RCMP, Gibsons Bylaw officer, and Conservation officer have all been called and notified.
Sherena is not sure what will happen at this time with Mui Mui, but she has faith that she will pull through and that through this incident a greater good will come of it.
YOU’RE Comments on my facebook post (photos below)
Carolynn Oakes Browton So sad Duane, I can’t even look at the pic:(. What is the purpose of the traps? Why do people feel it is necessary to set these barbaric devices?
Birgit Breuer Why in Lower Gibsons, a residential area? What if a child gets injured?
Milynda Taylor OMG this looks like my cat 
I really think these barbaric traps have to go!
Birgit Breuer who sat the trap?
Sean D Eckford Gibsons Council will be giving first reading to a bylaw banning traps within town limits this evening…
Loreth Anne White This is shocking — are these legal trap lines?
Birgit Breuer Thanks, Sean – a bylaw banning traps will help but is this only for the Town of Gibsons? If we live in area E (SCRD) – our children and pets will still not be safe?
Sean D Eckford Yes, only Gibsons. Sechelt is also drafting one. Unfortunately Regional Distircts do not have the authority to enact ban bylaws, but they are asking the BC Gov’t to include a ban zone in the hunting regulations for the area. Your director Lorne Lewis will have the details.
Gigi Butterfly Hopefully they will be banned within town limits, and out of town limits. These traps have got to go.
Deborah Ficko This is one of those times, when I am torn between the Like button.. such a shock to see.. brings home the problem we are having presently.. gut wrenchingly!! With Birgit I agree.. should apply to the whole peninsula!!
Lisa Rouleau OMG this is hard to look at! I have a cat too What the heck is a trap this big for? and How can someone be so Barbaric??
Victoria Gazeley True, but anyone who sets a trap in a residential area needs to be held somewhat responsible, legal or not. We can’t blame government for everything…
Myrtle Winchester Unacceptable. But don’t blame the trapper, blame the governments that allow trapping.
Cody MacKay Was Mrtyle’s comment meant to be sarcastic? I sure hope so
Myrtle Winchester I was not being sarcastic. If the government allows an activity, you can’t blame the citizen for legally conducting the activity. I am totally against these traps, but the government has to be convinced to ban them. To vilify the trapper is unfair and pointless.
Cody MacKay We probably has completely conflicting views on government roles, but for me in this situation the blame sits solely on the person who set this device. I’m sure that there are miles and miles of game filled area on the Sunshine Coast that AREN’T residential.
Rich Cross ugh. someone please make these needless devices illegal
Jackie Phelan According to neighbours there was a tunnel dug under the fence leading to the trap. And on a personal note, we’ve lost over six cats in the area within the past year. Wonder what happened? As for raccoons and bears. NO ANIMAL, domestic or otherwise deserves to suffer through the atrocities of one of these traps. We live in a beautiful area which is inhabited by a plethora of wildlife. Appreciate it. The biggest threat to the planet is humans. Raccoons and bears become prevalent when we the “intelligent” ones leave garbage out and in effect entice them into our yards where they can become a pest. I’ll take a bear and a raccoon over uneducated humans any day of the week.
Jack Ploesser This a residential area, no where near being wild! Nobody has a right to put a trap like this in a average neigbourhood. This isn’t trapping, its fucking opportunistic assholes with no regard for life. There’s a multitude of other animals… and birds that they might have killed. its insane! You pass whatever law you want but that law has to actually be enforced. People like this don’t do things in the open because they are cowards!!
Cheryl McNevin Baron I hear this was a deliberate attempt to harm someone’s pet. This person needs to be identified, charged and chased off the Coast. We don’t need people like that living here. Go back where you came from jerk!
STRONG WARNING! Photos bay be upsetting and disturbing to some viewers. Please be advised!
Mui Mui caught in a connibear trap in Gibsons, BC
Mui Mui caught in a connibear trap in Gibsons, BC
Mui Mui caught in a connibear trap in Gibsons, BC
Mui Mui caught in a connibear trap in Gibsons, BC
Update June 23, 2011: Sherena Nyan says that Mui-Mui will hopefully be coming home today. “So far her vet bill exceeds $1600. The high price of cruel intentions, although there is no price tag on the love of a pet.”
Lets hope local governments get rid of these traps. There are much more humane ways of dealing with wildlife and pets then torturing them to death! Get well soon Mui Mui!
I want to hear what you think? What are your thoughts on leg hold, snare, and connibear trapping, especially in residential areas?
NOT Always a Good Day on the Sunshine Coast! Duane Burnett
Legal? Necessary? The Sunshine Coast is not an area where anyone’s livelihood depends on trapping, and it should not be. This antiquated method of hunting should be banned everywhere, and this is a good place to start, where most of us find it completely unacceptable. Let’s get this started, and be the innovative community that would not stand for this any longer. PS – if you know who owns and sets traps, give them up!!!
Thanks Duane for posting the account and pictures of the poor cat caught in a Conibear trap. Although horrible to look at, the pictures show just how inhumane these traps are. Wild animals all over Canada are being trapped in Conibear traps, leg-hold traps and snares and we are supposed to be a civilised country! We may not be able to stop this kind of trapping all over Canada but surely we can stop it on the Sunshine Coast. Let your local politicians know these traps must be outlawed here!
Some right deranged person setting those traps….
Use to be a guy in our nieghbourhood use to put catfood out with poison in it….My mother cat ate some ,passed the poison on thru her milk to her babies….everyone died a horrible death. I dont let any of my cats out now….
Some right deranged person setting those traps!!!!
Use to be a guy in our nieghbourhood use to put catfood out with poison in it….My mother cat ate some ,passed the poison on thru her milk to her babies….everyone died a horrible death. I dont let any of my cats out now….
Sherena, I hope Mui Mui pulls through with no lasting problems. My heart goes out to her. The poor darling did not deserve this. There is no need for these barbaric traps. We don’t have a need for trappers either. When Mui Mui comes home, please keep her indoors where she will be safe and healthier. There are just too many dangers for cats outdoors. Give her a hug and kiss for me
Wonder how long it would have taken her to die, if she had not been found? Thank heavens the people who found her had the whereabouts to photograph this! People need to see what trapping looks like. It is not humane or necessary! Most trappers do it in their spare time for extra cash. I hope she will have a full recovery!
The Conibear Trap is advertised as a “humane” device promising a quick death to the hapless animal who may be caught in it. (See http://conibeartraps.com/conibeartraps.html) What a farce! I looked through their advertisements and there is no mention that the device is recommended or appropriate for a domestic cat. In Mui-Mui’s case, it definitely was not a quick and humane “kill”. I wonder how long the cat was in the trap before she was found. How often did the sadistic creature who set the trap actually checking his trap-line?
There are far more humane “traps” that can be used for “problem cats” — and there are problem cats that befoul yards and gardens to the great frustration of some gardeners and home-owners. Such a trap is the “Hava-Heart” which just traps the animal in a cage without injuring it.
Cat owners, too, must accept some responsibility for their wandering pets who are, incidently, one of the more prolific hunters of song-birds as well as being annoying depositors of cat-do in well-tended gardens.
The use of so-called “Soft Traps” and even a Hava-Heart trap, should be allowed or permitted by licence or authorization from the Town’s Bylaw Enforcement Officer so that the disposition of the animal is assured to be humane and non-lethal, reported and documented. This would require an amendment to the current bylaw that regulates only dogs in the Town of Gibsons. I suggest a totally new “Domestic Animal Control Bylaw” should be drafted.
That being said, the solution is not to punish a pet with a fatal application of pain and suffering. Any such pain and suffering should result in a charge of “Cruelty to an Animal” pursuant to the Provincial Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Ban the things (those that provide certain death or injury to an animal) from the whole Coast and never accept that a lethal method of trapping is “humane”.
Victor and Else Smider from Cochrane Road, claimed to me this morning that “someone with a vendetta put the trap on their property”
My Question arises then, for people with such a manicured lawn , how could you miss seeing this “connibear” trap less then 2 feet from your freshly mown lawn to the fence where it was hanging from.
For in depth pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150211934091430.315643.594001429&l=3e4dbe92
I know the place, 294 Cochrane Road – not the first time this has happened, with access from the park to their backyard being restricted by a muddy creek bed, it seems unlikely this was planted from the back of the fence and more likely from inside their yard. Apparently they’ve been seen shortly afterwards trucking out old suitcases full of (your guess is as good as mine, I would assume other traps).
Its unfortunate that nothing will most likely happen here as the house owners are saying they have no idea who set the traps and they’re not theirs – seems justice doesn’t always involve our furry friends rights as well these days, hopefully karma will work its wonder here.
[...] a dog was painfully caught in a steel-jaw trap and a cat was nearly killed by a Conibear (body-gripping and drowning) trap in Gibsons, British Columbia, the town did the [...]
i am sorry your cat got in a trap. but u as a pet owner must take the blame. cats belong in the house or on a leash. they have no rights to be free roaming. they eat other protected birds and animals . lets show the pictures of those animals ripped apart . iam a trapper and in my state this is legal and just. there are so many people like yourself who dont take responsiblity for there complete stupidity. i cant tell u how many cats have gone to kitty heavan here. it would make me happy if these people would tie them up so i can catch what iam going after…each state has rules if the trapper was wrong in placement then he should get a ticket . but dont take away my rights of trapping. or i will take your rights to own a cat…do what is right and lock up your animals .
I was reading those posts and i had to comment. My dog is free to roam and i always lived in places where it was tolerated because i wont change my mind on the subject. I always lived in small town and i never heard of trappers putting traps close to trails or around where pets or civilians can be harm. Those who do are the stupids Craig Polenski. That right to trap stop where our right to roam(pets and humans)start. Some bylaws on trapping havent change for many years in some area and town have grown around those same area making them unsafe for trapping, its a matter of using your brain my friend. My friend back in Québec was walking his dog on a leash in a pedestrian area,when his dog got caught in a trap 10 feet from the trail, that is complete stupidity to me.
Personally i prefer to hunt with rifles which is somewhat cleaner to me but thats my point of view and i am sure vegeterians disagree. I dont understand the trap hunting at all and never will.
Sorry for your cat, Markus