Tim Petruk – Oct 21, 2026 / 11:11 am | Story: 635160
Photo: Contributed
Berta, a five-year-old Maremma livestock guardian dog, is shown with chickens near her Williams Lake-area home. According to The Fur-Bearers, Berta was later found dead in a baited snare near the property.
A Williams Lake family is grieving after their dog was killed in a baited snare near their home, according to a B.C. wildlife protection charity.
The Fur-Bearers said Berta, a five-year-old Maremma livestock guardian dog, failed to return home earlier this month. Her family later found her dead in a snare surrounded by other baited snares.
The incident has been reported to the BC Conservation Officer Service and is under investigation, the organization said.
Berta’s owner, Victoria Savile, said the traps were set in an area she and other residents regularly use for hiking, horseback riding and hunting.
“Families should not have to discover deadly traps through tragedy,” Fur-Bearers executive director Lesley Fox said in a news release.
The group is calling for mandatory warning signs, minimum setbacks from roads and recreation areas, identification tags on traps and mandatory reporting when pets or other non-target animals are caught.
According to The Fur-Bearers, provincial proposals shared with the BC Trappers Association in September included restrictions on certain traps in parks and recreation areas, setbacks from designated roads and recreation sites and mandatory reporting of incidents involving pets. The trappers association has opposed the proposed changes.
In January, a two-year-old husky named Moon was killed in a baited trap near a public road near Radium Hot Springs in the East Kootenay.
A wolf leaves Yellowstone National Park. It follows the scent of elk, crosses an invisible boundary and enters Montana. Nothing in the landscape tells it that the rules have changed. Yet an animal protected and studied inside the park can now legally be shot or trapped. We call Yellowstone’s wolf restoration a conservation triumph. Why, then, do we permit the killing of the very animals we worked so hard to bring back?
Murdering wolves is the antithesis to conservation.
In 1995, gray wolves returned to Yellowstone after decades of absence following their extermination from the region. Their restoration became one of America’s most celebrated conservation achievements. But the protections surrounding these animals remain fragmented. Yellowstone’s wolves regularly move beyond park boundaries, particularly when following migrating elk. They cannot distinguish a protected landscape from a hunting district. We have created an unfair playing field, and then we congratulate ourselves when the wolf loses.
In February 2021, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte trapped and shot a radio-collared wolf known as 1155M, approximately 10 miles north of Yellowstone. The wolf had been born inside the park and collared by wildlife biologists. Gianforte had a valid wolf license but had not completed the required wolf-trapping certification course. State wildlife officials issued him a written warning. The governor subsequently completed the course. His actions were widely reported, but the larger question extends beyond one public official: What does it say about our conservation priorities when animals tracked for scientific research can be legally killed just outside the landscapes established to protect them?
The consequences are measurable. According to Yellowstone’s 2022 Wolf Project report, approximately 19 percent of wolves primarily using the park were killed during the 2021–22 hunting season. Researchers also documented changes in pack structure, including the dissolution of two packs. Although Yellowstone’s year-end wolf population increased, a population count alone cannot capture the disruption of family groups, the loss of breeding animals or the consequences for long-term research.
Why are we still trapping and killing wolves and coyotes during the sixth mass extinction crisis? At a time when humanity should be repairing the ecosystems it has fragmented, we continue to target native predators for fulfilling their ecological roles. An international scientific assessment estimates that approximately one million animal and plant species face extinction threats. Habitat destruction, exploitation, climate change and pollution are unraveling ecological relationships around the world. Yet our approach to predators too often reflects an older belief that nature must be controlled rather than understood.
Wolves are keystone predators. They are the gatekeepers of biodiversity, helping maintain the intricate relationships among wildlife species, ecosystems and habitats. Their presence influences prey populations, supports scavengers and can contribute to vegetation recovery and the restoration of wildlife habitats. Coyotes also perform important ecological functions, including regulating smaller mammals and sustaining food webs. These native predators are not obstacles to conservation. They are integral to the ecological systems we claim to protect.
The documentary How Wolves Change Rivers brought the concept of trophic cascades to a broad audience, showing how predators can influence entire ecological communities. Some of its claims, particularly those involving river channels, remain scientifically debated. Yellowstone’s recovery is shaped by many factors, including climate, vegetation, water and other wildlife. But that complexity strengthens the case for humility. We still have much to learn about the consequences of removing predators from functioning ecosystems.
Ranchers can suffer real financial losses when wolves or coyotes kill livestock. Wildlife managers must also consider public safety and local ecological conditions. But acknowledging these concerns does not require accepting recreational predator killing as a conservation necessity. Nonlethal approaches, including range riders, livestock guardian animals and improved fencing, can reduce some conflicts. Their effectiveness varies, and they require sustained investment. That is a challenge worth meeting.
We should also distinguish the temporary capture of wildlife for scientific monitoring from lethal trapping. Research collars help scientists understand migration, survival and family structure. Killing an animal for recreation serves a fundamentally different purpose.
We have converted vast landscapes into agricultural operations, highways and housing developments, then blamed wildlife for attempting to survive in the remaining fragments of its ancestral habitat. Rather than continually demanding that predators surrender their lives to accommodate human expansion, shouldn’t we be asking how human activities can change to accommodate the natural world?
The issue is not whether every wolf or coyote population is endangered. Coyotes remain widespread, and wolf populations differ substantially across regions. The question is whether wildlife policy adequately values predators’ ecological functions, social relationships and contributions to healthy habitats. Abundance alone does not make an animal disposable.
State wildlife agencies should strengthen protections for wolves that routinely cross Yellowstone’s boundaries, evaluate the ecological effects of lethal trapping and expand funding for coexistence programs. They should also make the scientific basis for predator-killing policies transparent to the public. Conservation should be judged not merely by how many animals remain alive, but by whether their populations can fulfill their ecological roles.
What are we teaching younger generations when killing a wolf becomes an occasion for applause? A rifle does not make a human ecologically superior to a predator. Neither does a photograph of its lifeless body. Wolves hunt to survive and feed their young. They communicate, cooperate and maintain intricate family relationships. Their value exists independently of our approval.
We cannot proclaim our love for wilderness while treating its inhabitants as disposable trophies. We cannot claim to be guardians of biodiversity while dismantling the relationships that sustain it. We have made the rules, drawn the boundaries and equipped ourselves with the weapons. The wolf has only its instincts, its family and its will to live.
If we are responsible for creating the conditions that endanger wolves, shouldn’t we also be responsible for protecting their right to exist?
Sources and References
1. National Park Service: Yellowstone Wolf Management
Christine Villabona-Kuntz is the founder of Pure Trixie Productions, an independent conservation media initiative focused on biodiversity, wildlife protection and ecological restoration.
If you live in Alaska and you’re 60 or older, you may never have to buy another state hunting or fishing license.
Alaska offers qualifying seniors a free permanent identification card that replaces their state hunting, sport fishing and trapping licenses. You only need to apply once, and the card stays valid as long as you remain an eligible Alaska resident.
Here’s what the card covers, who qualifies and how to get yours.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) offers a free Senior Permanent Identification Card (PID) to eligible residents age 60 and older.
This card replaces the need to purchase regular state hunting, sport fishing and trapping licenses.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) also known as bird flu in multiple Indiana counties.
According to DNR, bird flu was confirmed as the cause of death for multiple geese in Hamilton County. Multiple blue-winged teal in Greene County were also confirmed to have the virus through surveillance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services and the DNR.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the public health risk remains low, but people should avoid contact with sick or dead wild birds. If a carcass must be handled, use gloves and a mask, double-bag it, and wash your hands thoroughly afterward.
If you spot sick or dead waterfowl or raptors, report it at on.IN.gov/sickwildlife.
Waterfowl hunters should wear protective gear when processing birds and cook all harvested meat to 165°F.
Contact the Indiana Department of Health if you develop symptoms after handling sick or dead wildlife – 317-233-7125 during business hours or 317-233-1325 after hours.
For more information, visit on.IN.gov/avian-flu.View comments
The dairy farm worker reportedly contracted the virus after being exposed to infected cows – Bloomberg/George Frey
A man in Washington has tested positive for H5N1, marking the first human case of bird flu in the US this year.
The patient, who works on a dairy farm, was reportedly infected after being exposed to two infected cows.
H5N1 has become endemic on US dairy farms after ‘spilling over’ from birds in 2024, and has since infected more than 1,000 herds across dozens of states.
The person is not seriously ill and is isolating at home, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
Scientists have long warned that if H5N1 mutates and gains the ability to spread person-to-person, it could trigger the next global pandemic – and each new infection gives the virus more opportunities to replicate and change.
Last week, a 50-year-old man in Taiwan was infected with a different strain of bird flu, H7N7, genetic analysis of which showed the virus had undergone adaptations to spread more effectively between mammals.
Of the more than 1,000 people who have contracted H5N1 since it was first detected in the late 1990s, almost half have died.
However, the strain circulating among US dairy cattle, clade 2.3.4.4b, has proven less lethal to humans.
Since the virus first spilled over into American dairy cattle, there have been at least 72 human cases of H5N1 in the US, almost all of whom had close contact with sick animals. Two of those infected died.
Symptoms typically include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, and, in the case of clade 2.3.4.4b, conjunctivitis.
In milder cases, the virus is often indistinguishable from illnesses like Covid-19 and the common cold, meaning current case numbers are thought to be a significant underestimate.
In the US, just over half of dairy workers are migrants – many undocumented – who avoid voluntary testing programmes over fears of coming into contact with law enforcement.
“If people don’t feel safe coming forward for testing or care, we risk missing early signs of spread, especially in high-risk populations like dairy farm workers,” Dr Krutika Kuppalli, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern, previously told The Telegraph.
Washington health officials said the risk to the public remained “low” and “fits the pattern seen across the US dairy outbreak: infection through direct occupational contact with infected animals.”
The spread of H5N1 bird flu has been felt most on commercial poultry farms.
In recent years, the virus has decimated farmed poultry, with estimates that more than 500 million farmed birds, mostly chickens, have been culled since 2021 alone as a result of the virus.
It has also ‘jumped’ to nearly 100 different animal species – including bears, lions, foxes, mink, dolphins, porpoises, dogs, and cats.
Mouse glue traps for sale at a hardware store in Ann Arbor on Oct. 3, 2026. They would be banned under a new law pending final approval from City Council. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News
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City Council voted 9-0 Monday night, Oct. 19, to give final approval to a new ordinance prohibiting the traps because of the slow and painful deaths and prolonged suffering they cause.
“Glue traps are inhumane and they are a cruel practice that has no place in our society,” Mayor Christopher Taylor said, calling a full ban on them the right thing to do.
Mayor Christopher Taylor and other city officials at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting Oct. 19, 2026. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News
Council Member Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, lead sponsor, thanked Ward 3 resident Jeff Zick and others from PETA for their leadership on the issue, saying they’ve led with empathy.
“Animals are not trash and humans are not gods, but too often we behave as though those things are true,” Zick told council members, thanking them for setting a national example that all creatures deserve consideration.
“We are all animals,” he said. “We are all part of the same interconnected natural world.”
The ordinance takes effect 60 days after publication. A violation will be a civil infraction punishable by a fine up to $250 for a first offense and between $250 and $500 for each additional offense.
The ban does not apply to glue traps for insects or spiders, and people still can use other types of traps, including lethal snap traps or no-kill traps.
Hunters in southern Michigan will get the chance to harvest a bird with deep connections to the state’s sporting history this fall and winter, Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials have announced.
Starting Oct. 20, DNR is releasing thousands of pheasants at 13 state game areas ranging from the southwest corner of the state all the way east through Metro Detroit and into the Thumb.
This is the seventh year for the program, which “gives (hunters) a chance to relive the good old days of pheasant hunting, which at one point was more popular than deer hunting,” Adam Bump, DNR’s upland birds specialist, said in a press release.
The program is drawing criticism from an animal rights organization, which is calling it an inhumane act that terrorizes the distinctive birds.
“Wildlife authorities should be in the business of protecting animals, not purposefully breeding birds to be blasted out of the sky and blown apart for hunters’ cheap thrills,” said PETA spokesperson Catie Cryar in a statement. “PETA is calling on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to put its resources toward restoring animals’ habitats instead of condemning thousands of pheasants to terrifying deaths.”
The program is funded by the $25 fee Michigan hunters pay to obtain a pheasant hunting license.
DNR partners with the Michigan Association of Gamebird Breeders and Hunting Preserves on the program, with the association supplying the birds.
This year, they’re planning to release around 7,300 pheasants in two rounds, between Oct. 20 and Nov. 14, then between Dec. 1 and New Year’s Day. These dates coincide with pheasant hunting season dates in the southern Lower Peninsula, officials said.
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For information, including parking details, hunters can visit the DNR website.
Ring-necked pheasants are ground-dwelling game birds that can grow more than 3 feet long, including their long tails. Males have iridescent copper-and-gold plumage, green heads, red facial patches and characteristic white neck rings while females are mottled tan and brown. The birds produce a distinctive fluttering rush of wings when startled into flight.
According to the state, pheasant hunting was popular in Michigan into the mid-1900s. However, the state’s wild pheasant population has steeply dropped since then as the birds have increasingly lost their grassland habitat to farmland and suburban development.
Max Reinhart
