‘I ran the few meters to him and looked into his blue eyes that were filled with absolute terror,’ the dog’s owner, Sean Boxall, recalled

By 

Kimberlee Speakman

Published on January 20, 2026 04:27PM EST

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NEED TO KNOW

• Sean Boxall says his 2-year-old Siberian husky died after accidentally stepping in a trap alongside a road in British Columbia
• The B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks said it investigated the incident and determined that “no offense had occurred” as the trap was licensed and placed in a legal area with signage
• As a result, Boxall and his partner have created “Moon’s Law”, a proposal for harsher regulations when it comes to traps

A 2-year-old Siberian husky is dead after taking a wrong step on a roadway in British Columbia, Canada.

Sean Boxall, the owner of the dog named Moon, told CTV News and the Calgary Herald that he had driven up Horsethief Creek Forest Service Road, which is located over 170 miles away from Calgary, and got out of his truck to explore an unplowed section of a trail — when the unthinkable happened.

As he walked a short distance from his truck, he noticed “a trapline sign partially obscured by overhanging branches,” which warned of traps in the area. He then called for his dog, who had been walking around un-leashed by his truck, to “come,” and tried to run to grab him, but by then it was too late.

“I saw the trap clamp down directly on his neck, he let out an instant yelp and started to frantically try to free himself,” Boxall recalled to the Herald. “I ran the few meters to him and looked into his blue eyes that were filled with absolute terror.”

Boxall said his beloved pet had “triggered a freshly baited Conibear trap” along one of the road’s banks, per CTV News. He said he attempted to use his hands to free the dog to no avail, but the effort left his hands torn and bloody, and he was only able to free Moon with a chainsaw, which was used to cut through the trap.

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The dog owner said he performed CPR on the animal, but the canine eventually succumbed to his injuries and died. Boxall told CTV News that Moon “suffered an atrocious and agonizing death.”

The B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks told PEOPLE in a statement that they received a complaint regarding a local resident’s dog that “was killed after being caught in a trap on Crown land west of Radium, B.C.” 

Conservation officers investigated the incident and interviewed the dog owner and trapper and determined that the “trapper was properly licensed, the trapline and area it was placed was legal, and the related trapping season was open.” Officials also told PEOPLE that “warning signage had also been placed in the area” and therefore, “no offense had occurred and enforcement action will not be pursued.”

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“The B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) sends its sympathies to the owner for the loss of their pet,” the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks said. “People are encouraged to be aware that there are active trapping seasons throughout the winter in various areas of B.C.”

Boxall told CTV News and the Herald that, in light of the incident, he and his partner, Nicole Trigg, created “Moon’s Law,” a proposal for harsher regulations when it comes to traps, including requiring that the traps be moved away from roadways and that they be made easier to open.

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“If you’re driving because you want to get into nature and the winter wonderland in the safety of your car, and you stopped to let your dog out to pee, then this could potentially happen to [you],” Trigg told CTV News.

“The general public should be able to travel freely and safely on our public lands without the possibility of their family and pets being tortured to death in front of them,” added Boxall.

To learn more about Moon’s Law, visit the effort’s Facebook page.

January 19, 2026John FloresNewsletters,Outdoor Updates,Teal

Banded blue-winged teal on record as over 20 years old

Houma’s Jake Pierron was having a great time hunting ducks with his daughter and his cousin, Brennan Sevin, in the marsh southwest of Theriot on opening day of the second split of the west zone waterfowl season. Pierron and his daughter shot three teal early. In another blind some 400 yards away, Pierron’s cousin hadn’t fared as well.

With quite a few birds flying, Pierron called up his cousin to see if he wanted to come hunt with him and his daughter in their blind. So, Pierron drove over to Sevin’s blind and picked him up.

During the morning’s action, Pierron sent his retriever to pick up a couple of the birds. Just about the moment his dog got into his assigned place in the blind, two “big ducks” started to work. Pierron and his daughter quickly got down and his dog dropped one of the birds outside the blind during the commotion.

Just before climbing into the blind, Pierron asked his cousin if he minded picking up the duck the dog dropped. And that’s when things really got exciting.

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“Man! It’s got a band on it!” Sevin said.

Reporting the band

In the exchange, Pierron initially thought his cousin was joking with him.

When his cousin insisted saying, “No! I’m telling you the truth,” is when he finally believed him.

However, this wasn’t just any band. When Pierron started examining it, he found it to be severely worn. Holding the leg of the bird up in the sunlight to look at the information inscribed on the band, he was just barely able to make out the numbers 0995-27672. What’s more, upon reporting it to the U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory, that’s when things began to take another turn.

Pierron received a reply that said, “Warning! Potential problems were detected with this report: This bird or band is unusually old. Please recheck your data, correct it if needed, and include any important remarks in the comments field. IF NO CHANGES ARE NEEDED PRESS CONTINUE.”

The band numbers checked out and upon pressing continue, Pierron received a reply stating the species, the date banded, banding location, age, and sex. Only, not in the customary “Certificate of Appreciation” form with bander information that corresponds with the band number. Additionally, the file information was inaccurate.

Pierron’s blue-winged teal was listed as being a female. From the beautiful iridescent dark blue head with its pure white crescent moon shaped cheek patch, there was no doubt it was a male in full mating plumage.

How could there be a mistake? Why would the unofficial information read female instead of male? And why didn’t the banding information come with an official certificate from the USGS Bird Banding Lab?

What really stood out was if the bird was actually the bird banded, it was really old; maybe one of the oldest on record at 20 years and 3 months.

Discovering the bird’s history

Lauren Walker, a troubleshooter for the Bird Banding Lab, was contacted to see if she could help. It took a couple of weeks and a follow-up phone call to get a reply, but Walker was able to obtain the field notes from the banders.

The blue-winged teal was captured by spotlight and banded near Amherst Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, Sept. 14, 2005. Walker went on to say it is not unusual for the sex to be mistaken on hatch year birds.

Walker corrected the data base with the bird’s sex and date harvested and issued Pierron a USGS Certificate.

“I have looked at all of our blue-winged teal records and found 13 that would be older than this individual,” Walker said. “These 13 birds include nine males and four females so, if you break it down by sex, Jake’s bird would be the 10th oldest male blue-winged teal we have documented in our database. The current blue-winged longevity record is held by a male that was at least 23.25 years, when it was harvested in 2005.”

In putting the age of Pierron’s bird into perspective, according to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Research Program Manager Paul Link, female blue-winged teal have a first-year survival rate of 46-48 percent, and males only slightly higher.

If harvesting the 10th oldest male blue-winged teal on record and No. 14 overall wasn’t enough, two weeks to the day later Pierron harvested another rare bird out of the same blind. He shot a hybrid blue-winged teal/cinnamon teal cross.

Pierron said both birds have since been taken to the taxidermist.