A harrowing ordeal for two friends and their dogs along a marked trail in Kananaskis Country has them calling for improved signage warning of the presence of traps.

On Sunday, Gina Squires and Rod Evans were walking their dogs in the Raspberry Ridge area of Cataract Creek, west of Longview, as they have done on a regular basis for the last 12 years, when one of the animals was lured off the path.

“We were walking down the trail and my dog followed the scent and got caught in a trap and was basically being strangled to death,” recalled Squires. “Obviously they’re putting some sort of scent or bait to lure dogs in. I’m sure their intention isn’t dogs but they’re collateral damage.”

Squires stuck her hands between the snare and the dog’s neck while Evans attempted to free the animal. “(We) tried to figure out how to back off the tension but I don’t know how it’s done,” said Squires. “I screamed for help and I ran to get help.”

“If you pull on it. It ratchets down and gets tighter and tighter,” explained Evans. “It was on our dog, as tight as it could be, for probably 20 minutes. We couldn’t even get our fingers under it at the end.”

“Your best friend is dying in your arms and there’s really nothing you can do. He was biting me as I was trying to get if off him. It was so awful.”

While Squires was in search of help, a passing snowmobiler stopped to assist Rod and the dog. The snowmobiler had pliers with them and successfully snipped the cable that had been choking the animal.

The dog owners say the trap had been set in a busy multi-use area close enough to the trail that it could snare an on-leash dog. “We’ve seen lots of people, lots of kids, lots of dogs, lots of snowmobilers, a lot of horseback,” said Squires. “I’m a little surprised that, in an area that has so much use, they’re allowed to have unmarked items that are so dangerous.”

The traps in the area are legally set on crown land within the mountain park but Squires and Evans says the lack of signs warning of the dangers is troubling.

“There is (a sign) at the other trailhead but that’s not where hikers go. Why isn’t there a sign right here?” asked Evans.

“A couple little signs but they don’t really indicate the extent of trapping or the locations,” added Squires. “It was shocking how close it was to the trail. Just steps off the road. On-leash, off-leash, it wouldn’t have made a difference. It was that close.”

The friends returned to the area on Thursday, without their dogs, and posted their own signs to warn visitors of the presence of traps near the paths.

“There’s actually quite a culture of secrecy in trapping because people don’t want other people to know where the traps are because they’ll damage them,” said Evans. “They want to keep them as quiet and lowdown as possible so they can continue to do it without getting people upset.”

“I can’t smell those traps. My dog smells them, he knows exactly where they are, but I need to read a sign somewhere, anywhere.”

According to Evans, two other dogs were caught in traps in the area last weekend.

With files from CTV’s Kevin Fleming