Wildlife authorities outraged after pet cat is injured by mysterious trap: 'This was a pure illegal activity'

An incident with a pet cat in New Mexico has provided a reminder about the dangers of illegal trapping.

A woman from Farmington saw her cat, Mida, injured by an unauthorized trap. According to KOB 4, New Mexico Game and Fish was alerted to the situation.

"This was a pure illegal activity," Stewart Wiley, chief of wildlife at New Mexico Game and Fish, told KOB 4. "We don't know where the trap was set, because the animal was not staked at that site. So it's hard to say why that trap was even set to begin with, or what it was set for, but it was illegal in terms of how the trap was set."

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The state legislature passed a law in 2021 that made trapping legal on private lands only. The state game commission also has rules about the types of traps that are legal and where they can be set.

But, as Wiley observed, the trap that caught Mida "didn't have proper staking, didn't have proper swivels," and didn't include a "proper chain," making it illegal.

Finding the culprit would be difficult, as the trap could have been set years before the laws were even introduced. It's also unclear if Mida wandered onto private land.

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In addition to being a hazard for local pets, this trap could negatively impact local wildlife. If it harms a predator, for example, that could lead to prey populations getting out of control, which could have profound knock-on effects on the ecosystem. The disruption of this delicate balance could disrupt the food chain and even affect the human food supply down the line.

Of course, if this trap was not set on private land, it could also be a nasty surprise for anyone walking in the area.

Unfortunately, New Mexico isn't the only place that has seen unauthorized traps. In Queensland, Australia, for example, a hook and snare line was found in a riverbed, which was likely set to try to catch a wild crocodile.