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Un ret). 19. Ludwig pleaded guilty to both charges.
It is legal in Rappahannock to set animal traps on one’s own property. However, it is not legal to shoot a dog unless it is threatening a person, a pet or livestock. Ludwig should have called the county’s animal warden to report that the dogs were on his property.
A condition of Ludwig’s probation is that he must hand over his animal traps to the commonwealth and refrain from setting new traps on his property.
Ludwig took the stand Tuesday and explained that the animals were suffering and were not approachable when they were in the traps.
“I made the decision to end the suffering as quick as I could,” Ludwig told the court. “I still feel I was working in the animals' best interest.” <
But he would take it back if he could, he said. “I’ve relived those three minutes over and over and over again.”
Ludwig has lived on Oventop Lane for five years. He said he had seen a coyote on the property before, and that is what he was trying to catch with tie traps. *
He removed the trap that caught the first dog, but left the other traps on his property.
“I really didn’t think it would happen again,” Ludwig said. “Those traps have been up there three winters, and I’d never had a problem with dogs [getting trapped) before.”
After the second dog was caught, he pulled all the traps on the property.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Peter Luke said the case has generated a lot of interest in the community, but some of the attention has focused on the use of animal traps.
Luke said that, while he personally does not care for traps, Ludwig cannot be punished for having them on his property.
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