We had to carry Cosmo over two miles through rough terrain after he was trapped
-By Marie Girouard
Here is a picture of my little guy, Cosmo, the day after- they shaved his leg to make sure he didn’t have any puncture wounds.
On February 11th, 2023, my husband and I were out enjoying a beautiful day of hiking. It was one of those perfect days in Las Vegas when the sun was shining, and the breeze was just right. and we were all in high spirits. We invited our friend to join us as we wanted to show her a beautiful area we discovered just a few weeks prior. We headed out to a trail located about 1.5 miles northwest of the Little Red Rock area. I am not able to find any trail names on a map, however, I have marked the exact location of this issue on Google Maps.
As we were walking along a single-track trail, our beloved dog, Cosmo, suddenly cried in pain. We rushed over to him and found that he had stepped into a leghold trap. It was a horrifying sight, and we were all in shock.
We were incredibly fortunate to be able to immediately free Cosmo from the leghold trap. Cosmo was probably stuck for a little under a minute, however, in that time he had blood around his mouth and on his leg. We were able to wrap an ace bandage around his leg, however, it was clear that he would not be able to hike back to the car due to the injury and pain. The only option was to carry him out of the area ourselves. I wish I would have thought to get pictures of carrying Cosmo out but that was the last thing on my mind. I also should have taken picture of his gums- but again, I think I was just in shock.
It was a grueling and painful task. Cosmo is not a small dog; he weighs just over 50 pounds. We had to carry him for over two miles through rough terrain. The footing on the trail was steep and when carrying a 50-pound dog, a bit treacherous. We had to take lots of breaks because carrying him was just too much for one person to handle. As we walked, we tried to comfort Cosmo as best we could, but it was clear that he was in a lot of agony.
Cosmo is my favorite hiking buddy, and I felt especially devastated to see him in such pain. We’ve been on countless hikes together, and he’s always been such a loyal and adventurous companion.
It was a traumatic experience that we will never forget. Seeing our beloved dog in so much pain was heart-wrenching.
When we finally reached the trailhead, we rushed Cosmo to the vet. We are so incredibly fortunate; he survived the ordeal and is now on the road to recovery. But the memory of that day will stay with us forever.
The most shocking thing about this whole experience was finding out that trapping is legal in this area. There were no warning signs, and this is a multi-use area with lots of people and families enjoying the outdoors.
It’s hard to believe that such a dangerous and inhumane practice is allowed in a place where so many people come to enjoy nature. We were completely unprepared for this, and it’s a tragedy that it took our beloved dog getting hurt for us to learn about this issue.
I did report this with BLM- officer Lewis took my info. It didn’t seem to do much, but I wanted this issue documented.
Please let me now if there is anything else I can do to be helpful. My goal is to help bring an end to this horrible practice.
