An illegal snare has been found hidden in undergrowth by a seven-year-old boy out walking with his grandparents and dogs.
The home-made snare was secreted in Castleroe Forest, outside Coleraine.
The youngster who found it alerted his grandfather who removed it and issued a warning to dog walkers and families using the forest and the local trim trail which is more than 3 km long.
The snare was made from a length of rounded wire and part of it was covered with blue tape.
It had been designed to loop around an animal's foot, or the head of a smaller animal and could prove deadly if the trapped animal was not rescued.
The family who found the snare last Friday removed it and contacted police.
The woman said: "We walk our rescue dogs in the forest a lot and our grandson is often with us.
"This was not a snare intended for rabbits, it was much too big. In fact an adult could have got their foot caught in it.
"The snare we found had we believe been set to capture dogs possibly for breeding for fighting. The police have been informed.
"This was not a snare designed to kill, it was designed to trap and we suspect that whoever put it there would have expected to come back to find their trap complete with a dog in it when the forest was quiet.
"The end of it was twisted around a long cable that went underground so whatever was captured in it would have been able to run off.
"Dogs have gone missing in this forest never to be seen again and in the neighbourhood we've had to inform police about people driving a white van around looking into people's gardens and properties.
"We believe they could be looking for dogs to breed or to use in fighting and to blood younger dogs. So we are very vigilant about the area.
"We hope everyone will keep a watch out for other traps and snares and safely remove them and report the matter to the police."
Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.
Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.
Click here to get it from the App Store or here for Google Play .
