Pierre Gryzybowski

DUNLAP, Tenn. — The owner of a golden retriever that was decapitated Sunday after being lured into an animal trap baited with bacon said the device was “horrible and cruel.”

“I don’t know why anyone would put that there,” said Natalie Milhollin, who said her 11-year-old son witnessed the death of their 3-year-old dog named Toby.

Mrs. Milhollin said her husband and son were walking with the dog when it wandered off their property and put its head inside a box that contained the steel-spring device.

It was a Conibear-style trap commonly used around water to kill beavers or on land to catch coyotes, said Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman Dan Hicks. He said the traps are considered “instant-kill” devices, but are legal in Tennessee as long as they are placed in a box or are buried and are marked with the owner’s name and phone number.

Mr. Hicks said the trap wasn’t marked but could have been tampered with. He said TWRA officers are searching for the owner and for more traps in the area, but it doesn’t appear charges will be filed.

“If they let their dog go over on someone’s property they didn’t have permission to go on, then they are looking at their negligence and not the liability of the trapper because he has met the guidelines set forth by law, except that the tag is missing,” Mr. Hicks said. “It’s the only way some people have to deal with the coyote-type situation.”

Dunlap Police Chief Clint Huth said trapping is not illegal inside the city.

There are alternatives to trapping, according to Pierre Gryzybowski, deputy manager of the Fur-Free Campaign of the Humane Society of the United States of America. He said people “need to learn to live with the animals that exist in the ecosystem.”

Mr. Gryzybowski said there are no data showing how many domestic animals are killed in traps each year, but he said it’s common enough that trappers can buy insurance in case they are sued by pet owners.

“(The traps) are unequivocally a dog killer,” Mr. Gryzybowski said. “They are like land mines for animals.”

A representative of the National Trappers Association could not be reached Monday. The organization’s Web site, www.nationaltrappers.com, said the organization “continue(s) to research and encourage the development and usage of the most effective and humane trapping techniques available.”