‘He’s such a good boy’: Animal rescue team helps save dog with leg caught in hunting trap

ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) - A dog is now in the care of animal rescuers after being injured by a hunting trap in rural Missouri.

According to Stray Rescue, a nonprofit animal rescue, the dog was spotted by neighbors in Perryville a few weeks ago limping around with his back leg caught in a hunting trap.

After more than a week of trying to catch him, homeowners in the area were successful in removing the hunting trap and getting the dog over to the rescue team in St. Louis.

“These things shut so tightly, they just completely caught off circulation, so he had no blood flow essentially from his ankle down,” Dr. Edie Oliver, a veterinarian at Stray Rescue, said.

Veterinarians said they had to make the difficult decision to amputate the injured leg from the 1-year-old Husky-Shepard mix who has since been named Behrle.

But the team says he is already recovering well from the procedure.

“Dogs recover really well without the back leg as they put the majority of their weight on their front legs,” Oliver said. “So he’ll be up and about like nothing ever happened in a matter of weeks.”

Stray Rescue’s lead rescue officer Donna Lochmann said she’s never seen a dog caught in a hunting trap like this before.

“I feel like they’re so inhumane,” she said.

Using hunting traps like the one that injured Behrle is not illegal in Missouri, but veterinarians encourage hunters to use other means for catching animals.

“If you want to do trapping and that kind of thing there are way more humane ways to do it,” Oliver said.

Behrle is continuing his recovery before he is placed in a foster home and then becomes ready for adoption.

“He’s such a good boy,” Oliver said. “Sweet, calm and I think he’ll continue to get more comfortable.”

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