A $1,200 reward is being offered to anyone with information that could identify the person who set a leg-hold trap that caused the death of a skunk in a Port Coquitlam neighbourhood last weekend.
Lesley Fox, a spokesperson for the Association for the Protection of Fur Bearing Animals, said incidents involving leg-hold traps in residential neighbourhoods are becoming a more common occurrence.
"These devices are just not the things we want around our pets and our kids," she said. "We are hoping that if we throw some reward money down someone will come forward."
Last Friday, Robert Belyk said he was working in his backyard when a wounded skunk caught in a leg-hold trap wandered into his backyard, writhing in pain. Langley's Critter Care Wildlife Society came and took the animal away but, because of the severity of its injuries, it was later put down.
Conservation officers said traps designed to catch smaller animals are illegal in residential areas and B.C. regulations stipulate that traps cannot be set within 200 m of a dwelling.
Fox fears that more traps could be set in the area, putting pets and children in danger.
"Very rarely would you set just one trap," she said. "It is really concerning to me. We don't know if there are more traps out there or if they are close to a school or a park. Someone knows something and we need those people to come forward."
Fox added that her organization will also be lobbying the city of Port Coquitlam to introduce a bylaw banning the use of all leg-hold traps and snares in the municipality.
