Sad - and glad - news in the animal world

Some sad news from Lee Blomquist of the Lyon County Animal Advisory Council: A male golden retriever named "Weed" that was abandoned in the Mark Twain Estates in July 2005 has died of cancer.

Weed, about 5 years old at the time he was found, was near an old trailer with hundreds of foxtails and cheatgrass seeds embedded in his body that left more than 300 abcesses.

Lyon County Animal Services got together with Dr. Lisa Hayden, a Yerington veterinarian, to remove the foxtails.

Lee Blomquist, co-director of the Silvers Springs Spay and Neuter Clinic, helped care for the dog, giving him a new name and later finding a home for him.

She said Weed died this month from a cancer common in middle-aged golden retrievers.

"At least he had some time in a great home," she said.

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Good news for animals is that the Lyon County Commission has appointed Gordon Hutting, of Mound House, to the Lyon County Animal Control Advisory Board.

Hutting will represent Dayton, Mound House and Silver City on the board, with his term expiring in 2008.

Hutting is the owner of Cold Nose Kennels on Linehan Road in Mound House. He showed his devotion to his four-legged friends during last summer's Linehan Complex fire, when he managed to evacuate 33 dogs, four horses, a donkey and some kittens from his property.

Hutting also serves on the Mound House Advisory Council.

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The Storey County Commission is going to look into establishing a trapping ordinance after several dogs were caught in leg-hold traps in the Virginia City Highlands.

Sheriff Jim Miller said the county doesn't have an ordinance to address the issue. He said that in addition to the Highlands, traps had been found at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Park and Painted Rock in the north end of the county.

Miller said he was concerned not only about dogs, but children, wild horses and people riding dirt bikes or off-road vehicles in the area.

Ironically, according to District Attorney Harold Swafford, trappers are facing the same problem as their targets - encroachment by civilization.

"People have been trapping here for years," he said. "Now civilization is moving into where there used to be just open areas."

This month, two dogs were caught in leg-hold traps in the 40-acre area of the Highlands, and a trapper was cited for using traps that did not meet state requirements.

Chris Healy, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said jaws on a trap must leave enough space for a caught raptor to be able to get out.

Healy said that although the 40-acre parcels in the Virginia City Highlands are private property, no property owners have filed trespassing complaints, and there were no fences or signs posted.

Commissioner Bob Kershaw supported studying the problem.

"It only takes one person hiking out there to step in a trap," he said.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee¹@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 351.