With a recent spate of domestic animals returning home with what can be regarded as snare injuries, the Snare Aware team have been working around the clock to investigate these death traps that have been known to injure unsuspecting animals that venture out into unchartered areas.
The team which is a non-profit organisation that operates on the basis of anonymity recently received information regarding domestic animals that have been severely injured from possible snare traps in the Amanzimtoti area. Having found that there is an increase in pet owners reporting missing pets in the area, the team began conducting investigations into the locations from where the animals have either returned home severely injured or maimed. According to a local resident, Jason Moodley (alias), his daughter’s pet cat went missing a month ago and after an extensive search for the cat proved fruitless, the family had to accept that their feline may never return. “It was a week after Benji (pet’s name) went missing that I read about the recent incidents of animals getting caught in snare traps. It was at that point that I decided to get in touch with a local ranger to find out if he had any information about the traps in the area.”
Moodley said what happened thereafter broke his heart. “One night my daughter came to me screaming and in tears. She found Benji laying at the front door bleeding. When I saw him, it looked like his left paw was mangled and it had a sharp rusty spike stuck under the paw pad. It definitely didn’t look like he had been attacked or mauled by another animal and neither did it look like he was hit by a car.” The father immediately rushed the feline to the nearest animal clinic where he was told that this was a possible snare trap injury which was becoming common in the coastal area. It was at this point that the Snare Aware team was alerted to a growing problem in the coastal area. The Snare Aware team said: “As with all areas that we tackle, we assess the areas remotely through reviewing satellite imagery and usually scout out the areas with a drive by. By doing this, the team is able to assess any potential risks to their safety as they do venture out into locations where it can become dangerous for them to conduct their investigations.”
The team said that during their operations over the last 12 months, they have successfully removed 911 snares on the South Coast. “Most of the snares were old, buried, broken or in various forms of decay. This, combined with the numerous ligature marks on the trees, indicated that this was an area that had historically been heavily snared,” said Snare Aware. Commenting on the recent spate of snare traps, the team urged residents and pet owners to be cautious when allowing their fur babies to roam freely. The organisation said they see a lot of cases where domesticated cats have gone missing in the area. “Unfortunately, it is not easy to keep a cat indoors as they tend to be quite curious wanderers. What we would suggest is for the owners to be vigilant when letting their pets out and to always make sure that each animal has a collar. Benji was one of the lucky ones. We are glad that he returned home even though he will have a limp for the rest of his life. This is one story that motivates us to continue with the work that we do,” said the team.
