Trust failed to check traps
Animals were left to starve to death because a wildlife trust didn’t check traps it was supposed to monitor daily.
A Horowhenua resident found six traps in the past week containing either skeletal remains or decomposing animals at Foxton Beach.
Ronda Findlay said one of the animals she saw may have been a rabbit, based on its grey fur, but she could not tell as maggots had already got to it.
The traps were donated to the Wildlife Foxton Trust by Horizons Regional Council in 2015, with the aim of humanely killing pests. The traps were even painted by local schoolchildren.
Bait was placed into the 40 ‘‘tippy traps’’ to lure pests, including stoats, rats and weasels. A plate would then fall behind an animal and trap it. The pests would be taken to the trust to be euthanised.
Anyone using such live traps is legally required to check them daily.
But Findlay had also seen a few stoats and a hedgehog that had disintegrated so much its head was just a skull.
‘‘You can tell the [stoat] curled up and died.
‘‘I’m really concerned that the traps are just left there. [The trust] should be forced to abide by the law,’’ she said.
‘‘I think Horizons needs to be held accountable too.’’
SPCA general manager Danny Auger said if people weren’t checking the traps they were failing with their obligations.
‘‘There could be an animal suffering. They will starve to death.
‘‘Whether it’s a cat, dog or a stoat, it still has the same rights.’’ Foxton Beach School pupils painted the traps and were told the animals would be dealt with humanely, principal Hamish Stuart said.
‘‘We had some girls who were very fond of animals. I think they would be quite disappointed.’’
When Findlay spoke to the trust’s chairman, John Girling, he had told her they were pests and he wouldn’t mind leaving them there indefinitely, she said.
Girling told the Manawatu Standard Findlay had skewed his comment. ‘‘I did say it’s not a big problem; they are just pests.’’
Girling said the traps were supposed to be checked once or twice a week and any pests caught would be brought back to the depot and euthanised.
The volunteer responsible for the Palmer Rd area was neglecting the traps, he said. ‘‘I’m very unhappy about it. ‘‘We organise other people to do it. One of the problems is you can ask them to do it but you can’t make them,’’ Girling said.
The trust only checked on the volunteers for the first few weeks of the project starting, he said.
The traps neglected around the Palmer Rd area would be pulled and reset once a suitable volunteer was found, Girling said.
Horizons habitat protection coordinator Aaron Madden said basic training was given to volunteers and they were informed about the importance of checking traps daily.
‘‘We will be working closely with Wildlife Foxton Trust going forward to ensure the matter is addressed. This will include being in regular contact with the trust and undertaking some monitoring of the traps ourselves.’’
It was possible for hedgehogs and cats to enter the traps but checking them daily should allow them to be released, Madden said.