– It was not a pretty sight. I don’t really have a word to describe it, other than grotesque. I guess I was just cursed and had to calm down, says Øyvind Haugvaldstad at Mosterøy in Stavanger. The moment when he received the picture of the cats is fresh in his memory. In the days before, he observed that mink traps were placed in the area. Within a day, two of his pets were gone. He goes on to say that it was the cat’s paw that triggered the trap and got stuck. The trap with the cats has thus ended up in the lake. – I don’t know how long the cats have been tormented, but hopefully they have dragged it straight to the lake and drowned immediately, and not been lying there for hours, says Haugvaldstad. It was the newspaper Øyposten that wrote about the case first. Incorrect use of mink traps – The traps are designed for mink, so here I think a mistake has been made. When the traps are not covered, there is access to cats and other animals and, says Haugvaldstad. It’s not the mink he’s most worried about. – I am in favor of the mink having to go, but those who hunt it must think again. Not everyone knows how to use traps, they have to familiarize themselves with the laws and regulations and check the traps, he says. Chablis’ cat life ended abruptly in an encounter with a mink trap. Photo: Øyvind Haugvaldstad The shooting prize will soon go up And soon the shooting prize for mink will increase to NOK 1,000 in Stavanger municipality. – I fear that there will be more people who want to set traps. They buy a trap that is approved under Norwegian law, and set it out without thinking that it has to be covered here. Then there could be even more cats and possibly dogs that could come across the trap, says Haugvaldstad. He has four cats left and fears that they may also encounter mink traps in the near future. Unanimously adopted Stavanger politician Leif Arne Moi Nilsen (Frp) is satisfied with the increase in the shooting prize and more hunting. – We want the mink gone, it doesn’t belong here. I am very happy that I was accepted into the selection, everyone said it was brilliant, he says. The FRP politician only becomes silent when the incident with the cats from Mosterøy is mentioned. – I myself am very fond of animals and this is certainly not good. That is the only negative thing about hunting, if they use traps and animals other than the mink are caught, he says. The mink must go away Moi Nilsen believes that setting up the shot prize is an effective solution. – For once, I think it will work. There will not be a mink left in the entire municipality of Stavanger. Hunters travel here from all over the country, they will kill the mink, he says. According to Moi Nilsen, several hunters have made contact and have their hunting plans ready. – The hunters I have spoken to say they will use a dog and lure the mink out of the den and thus shoot the mink. No one has mentioned the use of traps, he says.
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Purebred cats killed in mink traps on Mosterøy just before the shooting premium increases – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
