Leghold trap catches domestic cat in Great Falls

It's touch and go for a fluffly male cat rescued Friday on a Great Falls street with its front paw in the jaws of a steel leghold trap.

Gisela Hvamstad and her 14-year-old daughter, Danaya, were leaving home near the intersection of 24th Street North and 9th Avenue North at 7 p.m. Friday when they saw a cat in the middle of 24th Street.

"I'm trying to call the cat," Hvamstad said. "It's just staring at me."

She initially thought that the cat had a snake. "I thought 'ew,' Hvamstad.

But Danaya jumped out of the car, phone in hand, to investigate.

"Her face just went like to sheer terror," Hvamstad said.

A large trap was attached to the cat's leg.

What initially appeared to be a snake was actually a chain attached to the trap, and the cat, described by Hvamstad as a "strong fighter," had broken the chain away from whatever it had been attached to.

They ran into the house and grabbed some towels and tried to corner the cat, which was walking away with the large trap on its paw and attempting to crawl under a car.

"It was hissing," Hvamstad said. "It was scared."

Danaya threw a towel over the gray, fluffy male and scooped it up.

Hvamstad credits here "nosy" daughter for investigating the situation and then rescuing the injured cat.

Then they called animal control with the Great Falls Police Department.

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On Monday morning, the cat was at the Great Falls Animal Shelter.

Director Lynn Formell said she doesn’t know whether the cat, nicknamed “Bear,” will survive.

“We’re just trying to keep the cat comfortable at this time,” Formell said.

Trap Free Montana Public Lands, a not-for-profit that promotes trapping reform and trap-free public lands that learned about the trapped cat, has offered to pay the veterinarian bills. 

“The cat’s leg is so badly mangled, I can’t believe it won’t be amputated,” said KC York, executive director of Trap Free Montana Public Lands.

The cat will surely need extensive medical attention, York said.

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In York's experience, if there’s one trap set, there’s probably more.

“I hope it’s being investigated,” York said. “I hope somebody’s out there looking to see if there’s more (traps). And I hope this person’s caught.”

City ordinance prohibits use of leghold traps, York said.

A Facebook posting by Hvamstad on the cat that was shared by Trap Free Montana Public Lands reached 20,000 people in 24 hours, York said.

"It's gone pretty crazy," York said.

Hvamstad checked with the shelter Saturday and was informed that nobody had claimed the cat, which is not fitted with a microchip identifying the owners.

"He's in a critical time," she said.