Cat dragged itself across road with leg caught in trap
GRAPHIC WARNING: A little black kitty was found dragging itself across a busy Hamilton road with its front leg caught in an illegal gin trap.
A member of the public found the cat in Rukuhia, south of Hamilton, on Thursday and desperately went looking for the owners.
After an unsuccessful search, she rushed it to the SPCA Hamilton Centre where it was sent off for X-ray.
The cat didn’t suffer any broken bones, but was injured.
Gin traps, also known as leg-hold traps, have metal jaws designed to catch and hold an animal by a limb, usually the leg or foot. And it’s a device the SPCA is firmly against. The organisation opposes the manufacture, importation, sale, and use of all leg-hold traps due to the negative impacts on animal welfare.
The sale and use of the traps are restricted by size and type. They can not be used within 150 metres of a house without permission from the owner or in an area where there was a probable risk of catching someone’s pet.
SPCA’s Inspectorate team leader Jason Blair told Stuff the injury, distress and suffering traps cause animals is quite severe.
‘‘They’re often strong enough to break the toe bones of a paw of an animal or sometimes even right through the tibia or fibula of a cat,’’ Blair said.
‘‘Limbs often have to be amputated and some die as a result.’’
Some people even set them in residential areas on purpose.
In 2019, Graham Clifford Witty, 60, appeared in the Christchurch District Court on a charge of breaching the Animal Welfare Act by using illegal traps.
The traps were set at his home in Casebrook to protect his plants, but in the process he removed the foot of a pukeko.
And in 2017, three gin traps were discovered in the Wairau River reserve, between Condors Bend and Giffords Rd in Marlborough.
While the use and size of the traps have been regulated over the years and many more have become prohibited, SPCA is still finding the older-style traps out in the country.
The Animal Welfare Act requires that any live capture traps must be inspected every day and any trapped animals killed promptly and humanely or released into a suitable location.
People can face up to 12 months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $5000 for an individual, or up to $250,000 for a body corporate if a restricted trap is used or sold.
If someone fails to remove a trapped animal and not treat them in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act, the individual may be fined up to $5000 or $25,000 for a body corporate.
The injured cat is still receiving treatment to reduce swelling and combat infection. It does not have a microchip so it could be a stray, but the SPCA isn’t 100 per cent certain it doesn’t have an owner.