Critter Care Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is currently caring for two raccoons that were caught in leg-hold traps set in a popular Vancouver park earlier this week.
A third raccoon from a different area of Vancouver was brought in with a trap on it. Critter Care founder Gail Martin confirmed that the animal had to be put down because the injuries were so bad.
"It's been a horrible year for leg-hold traps," said Martin.
The young female and the older male raccoon were brought into Critter Care on Tuesday with injuries to their feet. The male had a trap on his front paw and one on his back leg, said Critter Care's Angela Fontana, senior animal care supervisor.
"His back leg has a nasty, deep wound."
Both were sedated and had X-rays done to determine if there were broken bones.
"This guy suffered a broken toe on his hind foot, is missing quite a few teeth from trying to get the traps off. Both of his front paws are also swollen and bruised. We believe the front left paw was caught in a second trap," said Fontana.
Luckily the female has no broken bones.
"But it will take a long time for her rear paw to heal from the wound caused by the trap."
The female will make a full recovery and will be re-released back to the wild. The male's condition isn't known yet.
It's believed the traps were intentionally set near Dunbar Park on Vancouver's West Side, a popular family park where kids could have also found the traps.
It's against the law in B.C. for leg-hold traps to be placed within 200 metres of a residential area.
Fontana said in her nine years at Critter Care she has seen an 'alarming increase' in leg hold traps. Not so much in Langley, but in other communities.
"There are more humane ways to deal with raccoons.
To see updates on the raccoons, go to the Critter Care Facebook page.
PICTURE BELOW: This is one of the traps removed from the paw of the Vancouver raccoon now being cared for at Langley's Critter Care.