Helping injured birds has become a passion for Grace Kirck.
The licensed wildlife rehabilitator has two barred owls that she cares for. She thought they could be getting a new coop-mate when she got a call last week about an injured owl in Moodus. But soon after Kirck arrived to help, she realized there was little hope.
"I got close enough to make him nervous and he flew to the next tree and you could hear the metal and see the trap on his foot and I thought, oh!" Kirck said.
The barred owl, that Kirck named Clark, had one of its legs caught in a rusty metal trap.
"There was exposed bone, and the leg was black and it had shriveled up," Kirck said, describing Clark's injuries.
The damage was so severe, Clark had to be put down the day after Thanksgiving.
This isn't the first time that has happened in Connecticut.
Local
Earlier this year, a great horned owl also had to be euthanized after it was caught in a trap.
"We're just thankful that it wasn't a child or someone who had stepped on it," Kirck said.
Barred owls, including Clark, are federally protected, so hunting one can mean up the $15,000 in fines or up to 6 months in jail.
The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever set the trap. The Department of Environmental Protection is conducting a forensic exam on Clark to find out how he became caught.
"What concerns us most is that the characteristics of this trap indicate it was used by a poacher who exhibited a flagrant disregard for the law," DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette said in a statement.
Foothold traps, like the one that captured Clark, are legal in Connecticut if placed under water to catch beaver or muskrats, but Grace Kirck doesn't see a need for these kinds of traps at all.
"If an animal has to be killed for any reason they deserve a quick and as painless a death as possible and the traps certainly don't provide that, even when used legally," Kirck said
