Idahoans and those who recreate on public lands with their dogs in Idaho - Please sign this petition!

Summer is coming, and many Idahoans are excited to start camping and hiking in our wonderful national forests or state public lands. This year Idaho’s backcountry will be even more popular this year as other travel is cancelled and we seek safer local adventures for our families including our family dogs. But hidden, man-made devices in the backwoods could tragically cost the lives of our beloved dogs. If you want to have visible warning signs posted so you can protect your dog, please sign this petition and submit your comments today.

In recent years, an increasing number of pet dogs have been killed in by lethal traps, which are often baited to lure in and kill wolves, coyotes, and other animals. Right now (but only until May 10), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is taking public comments on a simple request to require warning signs at trailheads and campgrounds where trappers have set devices that can easily injure or kill your dog. These devices can be legally set just 11 feet from a public trail and 301 feet from a public campground. It’s almost impossible to release your dog from one of these traps without heavy wire cutters or other tools that most people won’t carry on a hike. Wire snares can choke a dog in less than three minutes. Body-gripping conibear traps can kill even faster as they squeeze and collapse the dog’s throat and lungs. Even if you do have the necessary tools to save your dog, you may not find your pet in time, because the trapped or snared dog cannot breathe, and may not be able to alert you that it’s dying. 

This video shows two men trying to release a boot (not a frantic, 50 pound dog) from a conibear trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=307a24y3Qe0

As concerned citizens who love our dogs, we have asked the Idaho Fish and Game Commission to require trappers to post signs visible from 25 feet or more where they are trapping on public lands so that we can protect our dogs from injury or death. The Commission is now taking public comment on this petition before their decision-making meeting on May 10, 2020. Idaho Fish and Game staff have already determined that the signs are "unwarranted" -- so it’s likely that without public demand for the signs, the Commission will simply reject our petition. 

We have just a short time to convince them that these signs are important to us and that we deserve to be warned of the added risk to our pets! We deserve to enjoy our public lands without losing our best friends or being forced to leave them at home because of the few hundred trappers in Idaho.

Our full request is online here: https://idfg.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/commission-meeting-gold-sheet-petition-5b2-051420.pdf

Please sign this petition now and share with your friends, family and recreational businesses ASAP so we can gather as many signatures as possible. We're not asking for money but instead please also send your comments (including your name, city and state) to Signsneartraps@idfg.idaho.gov 

Tell them that you want them to require visible signs on public trails and campgrounds where trapping and snaring are taking place.

A few recent stories that made the regional news: 

Owners of dog killed in trap recommend caution, The Challis Messenger, March 11, 2020

A dog's death in a snare has prompted questions about the safety of trapping on public lands, Casper Star Tribune, March 8, 2020
P.S. Idaho’s new wolf hunting season is now 11 months to year- round across the state. That means hunters will be in the woods during the summer months and could mistake your dog for a wolf. Please consider placing hunter orange on your pet to protect it from being accidentally shot.