Criticism of Illinois fur trapping laws grows louder after Cook County coyote has paw amputated

BARRINGTON, Ill. - Calls for change in Illinois law are growing after a coyote found with a steel trap on its leg in the south suburbs had to have its paw amputated.

You may not realize it, but we are in the middle of fur trapping season in Illinois, in which metal leg traps are used to catch animals.

Now, a wildlife rescue group is calling for changes in the state law after what happened recently to a young coyote.

Dawn Keller of the Flint Creek Wildlife Rescue Center in Barrington said a steel leg trap was still attached to the front right paw of a young male coyote found Christmas Eve on a front porch in south suburban University Park.

"No animal should suffer like this. The pain that this animal endured is unfathomable," Keller said.

Rescuers brought the coyote to Flint Creek, where Keller removed the trap. But there was so much damage a veterinarian was forced to amputate the coyote’s paw.

The animal is now recovering with a new name.

"So we named him Spirit, given his will to live," Keller said.

Keller is telling Spirit’s story on the center’s Facebook page, and calling for legislation that would require the use of padded leghold traps in Illinois.

"The padded leghold traps are designed to minimize injuries and trauma to the animal while it’s being held until the trapper comes," Keller said.

But a spokesman for the Illinois Trappers Association told Fox 32 they would oppose that change, because the rubber on the padded traps used during the winter freezes up and is just as hard as metal.

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"No one can suggest to me that this trap, and the damage caused to this coyote, was humane in any way, shape, or form," Keller said.

Keller said the traps often catch other animals and even large birds, causing extensive damage or killing them.

She said Spirit the coyote will likely have to live at the rescue center for the rest of its life, and will become an educational animal.