Injured Fox Raises Issue of Leg Trap's Cruelty

Chris Howell NewsOn6.com

CLAREMORE---Annette King Tucker is used to taking in injured animals. She operates Wild Heart Ranch Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Claremore, Oklahoma.

‘This fox was brought in by a trapping service that caught her in a leg-hold trap'

According to Travis Garrett, Game warden for Tulsa County, traps must be checked every twenty-four hours. Claremore veterinarian Lesleigh Cash-Warren and Annette both believe the fox was left in the trap for longer than that.

 ‘Because of the amount of time the animal was caught in the trap and left in the trap, and evidently the traps were not checked, this animal is going to lose its foot because of that,' said Cash-Warren, ‘if they're going to set them and they're not going to go out there for a week and check on them, then this is the kind of things that we see, and is this a fair protocol for an animal to endure this kind of pain and this loss?'

A further examination revealed some living tissue still in the vixen's paw, giving Annette and Dr. Cash-Warren hope that some of the paw may be saved. If the fox does lose her paw she could end up living out her life in a zoo, if she can't handle that she may have to be euthanized. But Annette is still hoping for a miracle.

‘My hope for any animal that comes into my care is a miracle,' said Annette, ‘and that would be that we are able to save enough of this foot to have some kind of functional paw. Yeah, that's our hope that's our best case scenario, is that she still gets around, she can still hunt.'

Chris Howell NewsOn6.com