To the editor:

I read with horror about the Lawrence man whose 12-year-old Rottweiler was caught in a hunter’s trap in Riverfront Park and killed.

The article stated that the man who set the trap did not have a fur-trapping license. Isn’t this the least of our worries?

Can’t a trap that can kill a large dog like a Rottweiller easily do the same to a child and at least seriously injure an adult? It is true, the victim’s dog was running off his leash, but the same thing could happen to a leashed dog or his owner if they walked off the foot path to where the trap was set.

Regardless of whether or not the dog was leashed, he didn’t deserve to die, and hunters’ traps do not belong in public parks.

This person did more than hunt without a license. He endangered everyone who visits the park. I can only hope there aren’t more traps around. My heart goes out to the man who helplessly watched his beloved pet die because someone wanted to trap ‘coons.

I hope the individual who is responsible for the dog’s death and his owner’s grief gets more than just a slap on the wrist.

Brenda Rhoades,

Lawrence