WHITBY -- A Whitby man who believes he may have saved a child or dog from death or injury when he found two lethal traps in an Oshawa pond has been charged with illegal possession of the devices and interfering with lawful trapping.
Jack Snedden, a 62-year-old animal lover, says an armed officer from the Ministry of Natural Resources showed up at his door on Wednesday to claim the traps and hand over two tickets.
“They thought I was interfering with something I shouldn’t have been interfering with,” Mr. Snedden says. “It’s a real travesty. I thought I was doing the public a service by removing them because they weren’t even below the water, they were right on the land.”
The traps had been set by a licensed trapper hired by the city to kill a beaver colony living in Goodman Pond near Adelaide Avenue and Waverly Street because their dam has raised the water level and increased the risk of flooding to about 400 homes.
Mr. Snedden was part of a roadside rally two weeks ago to protest the killings, which started last fall. Describing the traps as similar to a “big mousetrap,” he displayed them to passing motorists and demonstrated how one snapped shut on a spade.
A few days later, Oshawa council decided not to eliminate the animals and instead, manage the storm water levels until city staff can come up with an engineering solution.
Mr. Snedden, who’s facing a combined $420 fine for the charges, says he’s going to fight them in court. He found the traps planted on top of the dam after searching all day, hoping to prevent more beavers from being killed.
-- Carola Vyhnak is a reporter for the Toronto Star
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