MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Conservation officers want to know who set animal traps near a popular Minneapolis walking trail.

Chris Koch was out walking his dogs on Saturday when he discovered two traps along the Shingle Creek Regional Trail in Minneapolis.

“Just walking along with the dogs and I noticed something shiny and I’m like, ‘Hmm, you know, what could that be?’ And I looked at it, and I’ve done enough hunting and what not in my youth to know … that’s a trap,” Koch said.

He says the leg trap was in the brush, about a block west of 52nd and Penn avenues north, just steps away from Shingle Creek.

“It was tethered via cable to a tree, so that if an animal got caught, it couldn’t drag the trap away,” Koch said. “And so I looked around and sure enough there was another about maybe 15 to 20 feet away was another trap set and tethered to another tree.”

He took a stick, popped the traps, untethered them and took them home. Koch then called Minneapolis Park Police, Minneapolis Animal Care and Control and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The traps are illegal in the city of Minneapolis. They are legal to use in Minnesota, but only after training and getting a permit. The DNR requires traps to have the permit number and name of the person setting them on it.

“I did put the dogs in the garage, put on my boots and did my own reconnoitering and ordering to see if there were any other traps,” he said. “The last thing I want is for a kid or somebody to get trapped. You know, that could cause a lot of damage.”

Koch put his find on social media for all to see in hopes of warning others who use this area.

The DNR is looking into the traps, trying to figure out who owns them and why they left them “SET” in such a public place.

Koch wants to make sure his neighbors know what is going on so they can be on the lookout and keep pets and kids away from danger.

If your pet accidentally becomes caught in a trap, MACC says call them for help at 612-673-MACC (6222).