Louis Seguin heard a cry from his dog and thought she had been attacked by a bear or cougar.

Instead Seguin and his partner Anik discovered Shasta, their 10-month-old Australian shepherd, with a body-gripping trap around her head. She was a short distance away from where the couple were taking a daily walk near their home in Winlaw, northeast of Nelson, on Nov. 23.

The couple tried to free Shasta, but didn’t know how to open the trap. She died less than 10 minutes later.

“She was so ready for life,” said Seguin. “We didn’t know these things were out there.”

Body-gripping, or Conibear, traps are a popular means of trapping — and killing — wildlife such as raccoons and beavers. In B.C., placement of these traps — up to a certain…