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Dog killed by illegally placed hunting trap in Credit Island Park

A Davenport woman’s dog was killed by an illegally placed trap at Credit Island Park in Davenport, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

A Davenport woman's dog was killed by an illegally placed trap at Credit Island Park in Davenport, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources officer Jeff Harrison.

The dog, a Corgi-Dachshund mix named Wrigley, belonged to Leah Masterson. She rescued Wrigley in 2011, a few days after her 15-year-old dog passed away.

"He followed me everywhere," Masterson wept, "He was my baby."

Masterson, an animal lover, owns two dogs and four cats. During the day, her dad will often take her dogs to Credit Island Park to walk and play.

On Wednesday, November 12, 2014 her dad took her two dogs to Credit Island Park for a walk. While he was walking the dogs along the path, Wrigley, who Masterson said wasn't on a leash, ran about 20 feet off the path, Masterson's dad told her.

Wrigley yelped and her dad said he rushed to the trap.

"My dad said he couldn't get the trap off, so he had to scoop him up with the thing around his neck and carried him, because the truck was about a mile away," Masterson said.

Her dad said he frantically looked for help. Moments later, he stopped at a welding shop near the park to get help removing the trap.

But, it was too late.

Man responsible for killing dog with illegally placed trap says 'I love animals' 

Masterson recalls the conversation with her dad when he returned to her house.

"My dad said, 'Honey, I couldn't save him,'" Masterson remembered, her voice trembling. "Basically, his windpipe was crushed and he suffocated."

This is an unfortunate and rare situation in the Quad Cities area, Harrison said.

"It's a rarity that someone sets the wrong type of trap in the wrong type of location and, unfortunately, a pet lost its life," Harrison said.

The person responsible for setting the trap confessed to setting other traps throughout the park, and told DNR officers he didn't realize the traps were illegally placed, Harrison said.

No charges had been filed in the case as of Thursday, November 13.

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