ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Game and Fish typically only see a couple cases a year involving illegal traps, but we’re a week into the new year, and they’re already seeing it.

“Most traps are all modified in order to meet our legal requirements on our best management practices. So trappers modify the traps after purchasing them to meet all of our legal requirements to make those best humane sailings best management practices,” said New Mexico Game and Fish Chief of Wildlife Stewart Wiley.

That wasn’t the case for a Farmington woman whose cat “Mida” was injured by one of the illegal traps.

“This was a pure illegal activity. I don’t know where. 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. It’s hard to tell, too on this trap how long it was set, if it was there from long, long time ago, 10 years ago,” said Wiley.

Back in 2021, the Legislature passed a law stating trapping is only legal on private lands. But the state game commission also sets regulations on when, where and the types of trapping that are legal on private lands.

“The laws around the types of traps and how they have to be set were based on research from the Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies on best management practices on how traffic should occur to be the most humane possible,” Wiley said.

In Mida’s case, there wasn’t anything legal about the trap she was caught in.

“From my understanding, that trap didn’t have proper staking, didn’t have proper swivels, proper chain, anything, so that was all illegal. It wasn’t marked, it was not an offset. So the jaws weren’t offset, so it doesn’t create as much pinch or damage, or not laminated. All of that. None of those aspects of the trap were legal in terms of what our requirements are,” said Wiley.

Wiley says trapping season is usually from November to March, so they know when to anticipate these cases.

Wiley says to ensure safety, make sure you keep your pets on a leash, be cautious when walking near private land, and stay calm for your pet if they are caught in that situation.