Has Northern Nevadas population outgrown state trapping laws?
Jeff DeLong jdelong@rgj.com RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL February 11, 2007 Investigating a smell, Duke the dog lowered his snout into trouble. A steel trap snapped shut, pinching the folds of flesh on the retriever’s face. Owner Carol Grigus heard her pet’s yelps of pain and rushed to his side, horrified. “It was very frightening,” Grigus said of the Feb. 1 incident in the Jones Creek drainage, just outside Galena Creek Regional Park south of Reno. Duke was freed unharmed, but that event, along with two others in the same area in previous weeks, has called into question policies regarding animal trapping near popular recreation areas and growing neighborhoods. Gary Schiff, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, recently wrote the Nevada Department of Wildlife asking that trapping regulations be reviewed to ensure the public’s safety. “We’re concerned for the safety of the recreating public,” Schiff said. “Human safety is paramount.” The string of incidents in the Galena area began in ear
