With flashlight in hand, Howe ran behind the property at 32 Ricardo Street and found a baby fox trapped in a leg hold trap. Alarmed, Howe called Kenneth and Kea Reid, the town's animal control team, who promptly called the Lincoln County Humane Society to investigate.

Within minutes, the Reids and Matt Huber, an agent from the humane society officer arrived on scene. Wincing in pain and struggling to set itself free, the helpless fox was scared as Huber lifted the animal and unclenched the trap.

With a possible broken leg, the fox was caged for a few minutes to see if it was seriously hurt. Seeing that the animal was able to climb the cage with ease, Huber set the baby fox free.

"The fox has a promising future, he doesn't appear to be hurt," Huber said. "I don't understand why the trap was on private property though."

Howe said she didn't understand why any one would want to set traps for the animals. She said it's inhumane.

"I didn't think people would resort to this," Howe said of the trapping. "There are foxes, racoons and coyotes in this area. We live in an area surrounded by farm land. There's bound to be animals. I don't want to see them hurt."

Howe said she suspected that the traps were set after a complaint by neighbours about the wild animals roaming in the area.

"I saw the mother fox this (Monday) morning and she was limping. I think she got caught as well," she said. "I just don't understand it. These animals aren't aggressive. Why would anyone want to hurt them?"

Kenneth, who along with Kea, helped catch stray animals in town, said he was told by town officials May 5 to "pack up our traps" because an independent trapper was hired to handle the wild animals roaming the Old Town.

"It doesn't make sense but I guess they wanted to get the job done quick," Kenneth said.

Kenneth admits that he is an avid animal lover and said he has live animal traps, a caged box with a trap door, which safely captures animals without harming them. Kenneth said this week he caught an entire fox family in Virgil that lived beneath a home's patio.

"We set the animals free within a one-kilometre radius of where we found them," Kenneth said. "I don't know what this trapper does with the foxes. Does he kill them? I don't know."

CAO Lew Holloway said the call for the trapper was raised after complaints from several residents about the safety of their pets outdoors with wild animals roaming around. The professional trapper was hired because he was advised by bylaw enforcement officers that the success of live traps wasn't high, Holloway said.

"After hearing the concerns over the use of the leg traps I immediately called off use of them," Holloway told The Crier. "It's a lesson learned. We will use live traps for the next while.

Kevin Strooband, executive director of the Lincoln County Humane Society, said according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, leg hold traps are legal in Ontario, but an individual must be licensed to use them. Strooband said the trap used to capture the fox was a more humane version which had rubber grips to not hurt the animal.

"You could put your hand in the thing and it wouldn't do serious damage," Strooband said. "The old traps were solid metal and could snap a limb off."

Strooband said it's best that humans coexhist with all wild animals and let them lead their lives. He said relocation of the animals can psychologically affect the animals.

In the 18 years he's been with the humane society, Strooband said there have only been a handful of incidents involving traps. While traps aren't usually the society's jurisdiction, when an animal is harmed, that's when they step in, Strooband said.

"We have legislation to assist the animal," he said.