Penticton couple urges caution in upper Carmi after dog snared in trapline

It was a scary ordeal for a Penticton couple and their beloved pooch Kai after the dog was snared on a trapline in the Upper Carmi area on Dec. 14.

The two-year-old dog suffered soft tissue damage and bled from the neck after getting caught in the wildlife trap.

The snare was wrapped around a stump in the wooded area near a ravine east of Penticton.

Ivy Farkas was out on a walk with Kai, a German shepherd lab cross, along the Carmi ski trail network when the dog ran into the bush and disappeared

Farkas desperately tried to find Kai but to no avail.

“It was a horrible feeling, I just thought he was gone for sure,” she said on Tuesday.

Farkas called her husband and the pair went to investigate.

They found Kai almost an hour later with the trap wrapped around his neck and the only noise he made was a faint whimper.

Ted Farkas used a knife to free the dog from the stump and a Good Samaritan helped to remove the trap.

The BC Conservation Officer Service said there is no evidence to suggest the trap was illegal.

Conservation officer Mike Stern said in an email that trapping season for the Carmi ski trail area runs from October 15 to March 31.

Stern said there is a licensed trapper in the area on Crown land and there is no requirement to give the public notice of the trap being placed in the area.

The couple is urging caution to dog owners venturing into the woods around upper Carmi.

“A lot of people are up there at this time of the year, you know cutting down trees for Christmas, families are up there with kids and dogs, you don’t expect to see something like this,” said Ivy Farkas.

“Be more cautious and keep tabs on what your pet is doing, and what your children are doing too,” added Ted Farkas.

The Conservation Officer Service said it receives around eight reports of pets being caught in traps every year.