Cat Caught In An Illegal Steel Trap Or Animal Cruelty?

With a million questions swirling in my head, I made sure the cat was truly secured in place, and he wasn't in too much distress despite having both rear paws stuck in a steel trap. He didn't appear to be in pain until he struggled to get loose, which he did when I approached him.

Less than 200 feet behind me was part of my dad's front lawn, which I mow each week, I also use my electric string trimmer to cut the grass on the edges so I don't need to get up close to the various vines and picky bushes while on the riding mower.

About 200 feet to my left is the neighbors' yard, just a few steps in that direction, and I am in full view of the 2nd story windows. Children play in the area just beyond the treeline everyday.

Despite how close it is to these two areas, this is not an easy spot to get to. Once part of my late grandfather's garden, the land has been left to nature for many years, with trees, bushes and vines growing wild all over.

How had I even found him? Blame the squirrels!

There are quite a few walnut trees in the yard, and the local squirrels are about the only ones who bother to harvest them. They get very upset when they see cats or people creeping around.

Previous to this incident, I had heard the loud, irritated chattering of a squirrel outside, when I went to check it out, I was actually expecting to find local kids climbing in the trees, because I had recently found children playing in the woods, Instead I found one of the local cats prowling around in the woods. Calling out to it, and telling it to go home was enough to make it go away.

This time I looked around, but did not find a cat lurking around on the ground, I saw one looking at me from what looked like a tree. I had followed the sound of the squirrel into the small stretch of woods besides my parents' house, and where I could see the cat at was blocked by a lot brush including thorny raspberry and creeping rose bushes that prevented me from walking in that direction.

I was wearing my sandals, so I decided to go back to the lawn to find a better access point. When I did find a better spot to get to where the cat was, I still had to make my way around ten minute itch and vines growing all over. I don't even know what these vines are, I usually refer to them as poison ivy, but they might be poison sumac instead. All I know is that there are a lot of these vines growing around the yard, and when I do try to clear some of them out, I break out in a very poison ivy or sumac like rash.

I could tell that I was not going to be able to get the cat down by myself, so I went back to the house and told my dad. He went to see it for himself, then quickly called Animal Control. I had the presence of mind to grab my camera to take some pictures, this is not something that happens often.

I did not even know at the time that these traps were illegal, but I knew no one had been given permission to place traps on the land, I knew some crime had been committed. The worst feeling was that it did not seem like the cat had simply stumbled into a trap by itself.

When the Animal Control Officer arrived, she also decided that she would not be getting him out of the tree alone without hurting him, and getting hurt by him in the process so she called the fire department.

Yes, it does seem like a bad cliche, but the firemen really did come and get the cat out of the "tree". Well, vines. Vines as thick as young trees.

After the chain was cut, the vines just needed to be bent enough to allow the trap through so the cat could be removed.

The trap was removed, but one leg was badly damaged. After a few nights at the Animal Hospital, it was decided that it had to be removed.

His owner hasn't been found yet, despite his ordeal, the cat is very healthy and has been pleasant to everyone.

The trap has been banned in this state for at least the past 30 years, and it sure does not look like it's been in that tree for that long. Even if the cat was caught in it by accident, whoever put it there will be facing several charges, if they are caught.

We still do not know what will happen to the cat, a fund has been set up to help pay for his care, and if his owner isn't found, people have volunteered to adopt him.

I'm still concerned about the possibility that there may be more traps hidden in the wooded areas of my parents' property. Even if the traps weren't banned, no one has ever been given permission to hunt or trap on this land, at least not in my lifetime.

I didn't even know traps like this existed, I'm a gatherer not a hunter. If I want meat, I go to the supermarket and gather it from the display case.

My friends and I played all throughout this area as kids, and I'm not surprised to find neighborhood kids today can't resist the lure of playing around in there. I don't ever want to go out and find another animal stuck in one of these traps again, and I certainly do not want to find someone's child stuck in one either!

If it was done on purpose, then I believe more than one person was involved, and that's not fun to think about either. I just cannot explain how I was able to hear the chattering of a disturbed squirrel, but not hear the cries I would expect to hear from a cat that has suddenly had a steel trap snap close on one (or more) of it's legs.

Original content:


Cat Caught In An Illegal
Steel Trap Or Animal Cruelty
by CleanerLife
is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
United States License.