WILDLIFE --  A new instructional video – Releasing your Dog from a Trap - is available on Idaho Fish and Game’s website and YouTube.

The video doesn't come a day too soon, as several dogs in North Idaho already have been caught in traps intended for critters such as beavers and wolves.

Intended to aid dog owners, the video shows and explains the variety of traps and snares you may encounter, as well as methods and simple tools you may need to safely release your dog should it get caught.  The IFG biologist introducing the video explains that even wildlife researchers use traps as part of their work to study wildlife.  

Here's the explanation from IFG:

Fish and Game does not know exactly how many dogs were caught in traps each year and not reported.  However, trapper harvest reports have identified an increasing trend in incidental dog catches – from two in 2000 to 32 in 2013.  Two dogs were also reported killed in body grip traps this year. 

These increasing trends and recent incidents, coupled with a heightened concern voiced by dog owners, prompted Fish and Game to develop this instructional video.

Kennel clubs, gun dog and sportsmen groups, neighborhood associations and dog training clubs are encouraged to post the video on their websites.

Fish and Game has also developed working groups throughout the state, comprised of members of the public and trappers, to help identify ways to reduce the incidental capture of dogs in traps. If you have any questions, please contact your local Fish and Game office.