This feral dog management site mentions that you can use, in addition to live traps, No. 3 or 4 steel leghold traps and cable neck snares.
And this page has an illustration (on page 6) of what a cable neck snare for a coyote would look like. And here is a basic snaring guide. And here is an explanation of “Snaring Basics”, from a guy who also sells the equipment for it. You could either get creative and invent a cable snare yourself, or you could order a coyote snare from this guy. Bet it’d be a lot cheaper to ship to Antigua than a big box trap.
As for finding vendors of leghold traps on Google, there are so many hits for anti-trapping websites that it’s tricky, but I did find this one.
And I note that the commonest substance that turns up under a Google search for “poison dogs” is…antifreeze. Dunno how it is in Antigua, but numbers of dogs are killed up here every year simply from licking spilled antifreeze off the driveway.
Also, you may be limited, legally, by what poisons you can buy over the counter. If you decide to opt for poisoning, I’d suggest that you just ask your neighbors what they use.
Nobody’s saying that poisoning dogs is a happy or pleasant thing to do, but let’s face it, even if you took them to the humane society, what would be their chances of being adopted and having happy home lives surrounded by a loving family, and dying quietly in their sleep at a ripe old age? They’re feral dogs, and feral dogs don’t generally get to live happily ever after. If you do decide to opt for poisoning, do it with a clear conscience.
Duck Duck Goose, you have given me an excellent idea. Vetbridge, I have called around but cannot get hold of the substance you mentioned in your email. My vet recommended finding someone with a gun too, but unfortunately I don’t run in those kind of circles LOL.
What I am going to do is set up a snare where they are getting under the fence. That way I can definitely catch the puppies at least. I’m pretty sure the bitch is sociable enough that I can gently coax her til I catch her and the male adult will disappear once the bitch is gone. My conscience will be clear that way as the humane society get to do the dirty work.
Thanks for all your help, I will update you once the problem has been solved.
Xiix, that’s really sweet of you. Thing is, there is not much that donations can do. I am not going to poison these dogs, I am going to trap them and give them to the humane society. The pups will probably be rehomed and I am hoping that the female can be resocialised. I just need to get them off my property as they are harassing my dog and I cannot afford to feed them as well as her.
Thanks for the thought though!
Yesterday it was really rainy and miserable weather and the pups didn’t come onto our property…I guess they were hunkered down somewhere trying to stay dry. Will try the noose trick this afternoon.
If you do wish to donate to our local humane society, that would be greatly appreciated as they really have very limited resources. Email me at my username at hotmail dot com and I will get you in touch with the Antiguan Humane Society.
Caught another one of the pups yesterday and took him to the rescue society this morning. Tried to get the mother dog, but she just ran away unfortunately. We will try a couple more times to get the other pup, barring which we will probably start throwing stones at it to discourage it from coming in the yard. At least it’s male so will not be having pups. The female, I am going to try and catch again.