Courtesy of Annee Price
Annee Price was walking near the Clark Ranch trailhead with her border collie, Freyja, on Jan. 3, when her dog’s paw got caught in an unmarked, rusty animal trap. Two metal rods had snapped shut, clamping down on the pads of Freyja’s back left foot.
She called 911 and went to work on the trap, trying to calm her injured pet. After 20 minutes, Price was able to pry open the trap and release Freyja, and made it back to the car before help arrived. Officer Chad Kiehl from Summit County Animal Control received Price’s report and took the trap for further investigation.
Freyja seemed like she would recover, but it was a long night, said Price.
“Luckily, there were no broken bones in her foot, but she is suffering from soft tissue damage. She had a tough first night with lots of moaning but is almost back to normal now,” she said in an email.
The next day, Price decided to return to the spot with her husband to gather more information and mark the area to warn other hikers and dog owners.
When they reached the area and searched around, Price said they “found multiple dead birds indicating poison was present which probably explains our dog’s moaning.”
The couple marked the area with pink tape and posted signs cautioning recreationists of the possibility of poisoned traps in the area.
The trap had been placed about a half-mile south of the trailhead parking lot along the main dirt road, Price said, a parcel of land marked as PC-PP-26A-1-AX, according to the Summit County Parcel Viewer.
This piece of land goes through many hands, Price soon discovered. Owned by Park City Municipal Corp, it is managed by Utah Open Lands and the trail maintenance is performed by Mountain Trails Foundation.
On Sunday, Price contacted Wendy Fisher of Utah Open Lands and Logan Jones with the Sustainability team for Park City Municipal through an email detailing the incident and raising her concerns.
Most recently, an investigation has been opened by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, led by Officer Ethan Justinger, to determine who is responsible for the trap, Price said.
Freyja is doing much better as of Monday, she said.
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