That’s horrible! I can’t believe someone would set up traps like that all over. Poor kitty 🙁 I hope you guys hear from the vet soon and get him in for treatment.

How horrible! It’s just a nasty, horrible person who uses those traps now as they make humane ones. ((((Healing vibes))) I hope you hear back from your vet soon!

I would honestly call the police and report the person who has those lining their property. If it went off on your neighbor, can you imagine the danger it might pose to any children in your neighborhood who decided to go romping around people’s yards? (Police are more likely to listen to this angle). And if the person is forced to take them down, then you won’t have to worry about your cats or anyone else’s cats.

That is absolutely awful. Thank you for taking this cat in!!! I would definitely call a humane society or police or animal cruelty police (whatever is in your area), I know you live in WI like I do and I contacted the humane society (of course I know it depends which humane society is in your area) when I found about goats that were being abused and they helped me out. Just a thought! I don’t understand why anyone would line the property with those traps, other peoples’ animals and children could get injured.

Poor baby! I don’t understand why someone would do that! That’s just horrible! Hope you hear back from the better vet. Until then, ((healing vibes))

I would take it to the emergency vet immediately. From the looks of that leg the cat is in a lot of pain. Besides, the longer you leave it the more difficult it will be to fix for the veterinarian. Also, the cat could get progressively worse and become difficult to handle. Your best bet is to take him to a veterinarian asap.

That is good news! Hopefully everything at the vet’s goes well!

Great! Looks like you did your good deed for the day =)

That’s wonderful that you found its rightful owner and it’s getting treated. I totally agree that the police should be notified right away, also.
Even if the vet doesn’t do it, you and the neighbor who found it (and almost got hurt himself) need to have that stopped. It’s very bad for animals and children, and I can’t believe it’s legal. At least if it’s borderline, the police will be on the alert. Please call. (The vet may have to notify them also unless they can’t say where the trap was set.)

I would be of a mind to think those traps would be illegal in a residential area.

That’s horrible! Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens more often then you think. A few years a go, there was a man that was setting traps in his yard. They were fox traps that would snap down on the animal’s leg. He setting them with the intention of catching cats. When he caught one, he would take it to his garage and kill it by breaking its neck. Then he would throw it out in the street to make it look like it had been hit by a car. I can’t remember what happened when he got caught, I think he went to jail. Anyway, this is why I wish they would have leash laws for cats. So many horrible things can happen to them outdoors and then there are people like this that hate cats wandering around on their property and go to the extreme.

I’m glad you found the owner and the kitty is getting taken care of. You are a good person to have gone out of your way to help a stranger’s pet.

Yes. Outside cats dont stay alive for very long… I think its something like 4-6 years average lifespan for an outside cat? I remember having an outside cat and she got into so many fights with dogs and other cats and one time she came home with half her cheek missing. That was the last time we let cats outside. They may enjoy it, but it spells trouble for them. They could get run over, eaten, beat up by other cats, taken by another family, even taken by animal control (yes, by law, if your animal leaves your property, it is the “property” of animal control). We let our cat out in the backyard of our house and follow her around for about 10 minutes then we take her back inside. But there are just way too many dangers out there for a family cat, and this just proves it again.

That’s interesting, I’ve never heard that argument before. My kitty was outside for about 9 months straight (he was abandoned by the person who lived in the house before us). He seemed to like it out there, but when we decided to take him in we decided he would be indoor only. He had also been declawed (not by us) and we didn’t think it would be good to let him be out there anyway. We discovered that he liked to pop the screen out of the window in order to escape and we quickly put an end to that. He adjusted just fine after that and didn’t try to get out anymore after awhile. He was a very lovey boy though and liked to sit in my lap and he also played with the dog.

I’m so glad kitty is going to be okay! I hate those traps! Every year there are stories in the paper of dogs getting caught in those traps. Last year a local black lab got his neck snapped in one and he died. Around here certain times of the year hunters can set traps for small animals. It’s barbaric.

There have been a lot of coyotes coming near residential areas lately and a lot of people are people setting traps. It’s horrible because cats, dogs and other harmless wild animals like rabbits can get caught in them and it’s a horrible, slow death for any animal. They should be illegal.

I’m glad you found his owner and he’s doing OK. Shame on that person for putting the traps down.

The argument that cats should be rehomed if not let outside once they have been out is a bogus one. It’s just people who justify letting a cat outside because they want to, no matter if the cats life span is cut down by 10+ years by it (average life span is 7 years for outdoors). Plenty of feral cats are adopted by people who keep them indoors and the cats live long, healthy, happy lives without going outside except maybe on a leash. In fact, some of the rescues that adopt out ferals INSIST on the cat being indoors. Do cats enjoy roaming? Yep. But my dog enjoyed chasing cars too, but that doesn’t mean I let him. It’s like there is a dog in our neighborhood that the owners will NOT keep in a yard, or inside, it roams all over the place. It’s in the street most the day, in a factory another part of it. When the mail comes to our door, the dog if around chases the mail man barking and acting aggressive. I caught her chasing a jogger growling/barking the other day. But the owners and the people around town say it would be “cruel” to keep her in a yard since she’s used to roaming. One day, she’s going to get her head bashed in for chasing the wrong person, or run over by a car for running into the road, which is more cruel if you ask me.

That is horrible! I can’t believe someone would do that… but then again people use poison, sticky traps and many other dangerous things to get rid of “vermin” (I prefer calling them, “wild friends”. Haha). I picture (correct me if I’m wrong) like a small bear trap though? Which obviously isn’t to catch “wild friends”, but to harm nosy cats, skunks, foxes or whatever who is just minding their own business. I can’t believe those trips are allowed where you live! I personally believe any trap that is designed to just harm, slowly kill, or make an animal suffer should be outlawed.

I agree with Stickerbunny, that’s a bogus rule. We used to have outdoor cats till one was hit by a car. Since then we always kept our cats indoors. We had other outdoor cats at the time and once we made them indoor they didn’t seem to care much.

I know someone who has an aggressive yorkie and they let him loose when their parents aren’t home because they think it’s “cruel” to have him tied up. He’s small, and chases bigger dogs. My mom’s GSD is highly dog-reactive (besides with my two), and the yorkie has gone running up to my mom’s dog a few times…. almost losing body parts. :/ He also sprints across a busy street.

I live in the city, and traps here are obviously a no no. I think in the more rural areas of MI, they are legal. Lots of hunters. I am pro hunting. But I am hugely against trapping and baiting of any type. Hearing about an animal being hurt in a trap gets me mad enough. If it were one of my pets I would be well beyond angry. If it was my dog especially who got hurt on a trap… oooh if I found who set it, their face would be having a conversation with my aluminum bat.

Also I am very against outdoor cats. Growing up in a semi-farming area, I do understand the need for barn cats. Most people I know who had them also took good care of them, had them vaccinated, fixed, and warm areas for them in the winter. I feel that in the city where I live there is no reason to ever have an outdoor cat. Ours are strictly indoors. Very happy, friendly, social, and well adjusted cats. My husband and I have been seeing this young tabby hanging around since this summer. We are going to try and find out if she is stray or owned. If we can’t find anyone who claims her by winter we are going to catch her. Ok you can go ahead and say “Well it may still be someones cat.” And in my honest opinion, if you really love your pet, you will keep it inside. I live 9 houses down from a very VERY busy road. Would you rather see your cat in a warm home, fat and happy, or squished by a car on 12 mile?

 Joyfull. I made a quote reply to your first post but it didn’t seem to send. 

Mocha, -you- are an awesome person. Thank you for everything you did for that kitty.

Lyra is an indoor/outdoor cat, very much against our will. She always finds another way out, even when we think that every single escape hole has been blocked off. She’s spayed and vaccinated, but I spend so much time worrying where the cat is, whether she’s going to get into a fight or get hit by a car or eaten by something. She’s impossible!

I’m all for hunting so long as you shoot to kill. Setting traps and the like for you to come back to a suffering animal is just deplorable in my opinion. And the fact that the guy had them all around his property – my god! There’s no outcry when it’s a cat, but just imagine what would happen if a child had gotten hurt by one of those traps. :/

We never really had a problem with our cats escaping. The last time it happened was before my husband and I met. She took out a screen, but ended up in a freezing cold downpour. Has not tried it since.

haha Joyfull ! our cat just gives us the stinkeye when she escapes into nasty weather. Like we’re the weather gods and out to mess up her good time.

I remember that happening to my cat one of the times he escaped. I woke up the next morning to find him on the front step. He was cold and soaking wet and yowling his head off. He didn’t try to get out for awhile after that.

Haha, we have one cat, Mischief, who tries to escape ALL the time! She’s the only cat we make wear a collar, although all of them are micro-chipped. One time, one of our other cats got out, he got so scared he wouldn’t move, we had to go out, pick him, and physically carry him inside because he was so terrified. For two days, every time he heard a car go down the street he would go into hiding. Needless to say, he hasn’t tried to get out since lol

My indoor cat I had before the cat we have now, she pushed out a screen in my bedroom and climbed onto the roof one night! I searched the house for her then I realized the screen was pushed out. I looked up on the roof and she was staring down at me! I freaked out and in hystarics tried coaxing her back into my window. It took a bit (she was stuck and scared) but I got her! I think I had my first heart attack that day.

One of my friends once had a cat who kept trying to escape, so when there was a 2 foot snow drift piled against her back door, she went ahead and let the cat out. He came right back in and never tried it again.