Pet owners, trappers urged to work out compromise

RENO -- A Nevada group pushing for restrictions on animal traps set near hiking trails should try to reach a compromise with trappers, a state panel agreed.

TrailSafe, concerned after at least two dogs became caught in bobcat traps around Reno this past winter, had pressed the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners to ban trapping within 200 feet of designated hiking trails.

But commissioners on Friday directed the group to discuss the issue with trappers, saying loose dogs pose one of the biggest threats to wildlife.

"Dogs running at large is a far greater problem than dogs getting caught in traps," said Commissioner Jim Jeffress of Lovelock. "You see deer being run through fences and across traffic, and a lot of times what precipitated that is dogs chasing them."

Joel Blakeslee, president of the Nevada Trappers Association, agreed to continue talks with TrailSafe and said the matter would be discussed at his board's June 9 meeting.

TrailSafe formed after a string of incidents involving traps set close to popular trails on U.S. Forest Service land near booming Reno. The two dogs were freed unharmed.