Sometime last week, someone set an oversized steel-toothed snap trap in or near a residential neighborhood in Severna Park, Maryland. The trap was larger than state regulations allow. It was likely set illegally, in violation of rules governing trap size, season dates, safety zones, and tagging requirements. And a red fox is now living with it clamped to her mouth.

Video of the fox, captured by Severna Park resident Valerie Gardiner, went viral on local Facebook pages last week. The footage shows the animal crawling out from under a bench, the jaws of a large metal trap hanging from her mouth, trying desperately to reach food Gardiner had left out. "Oh she tried. She's trying," Gardiner says in the video. "I feel so bad."

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the trap was likely set illegally. DNR and Anne Arundel County Animal Services have been attempting to capture the fox to remove the trap. But the fox has not been seen since the video was recorded. Gardiner believes the fox is a female with kits, baby foxes who may be depending on her right now. The wait, Gardiner said, has been "torture."

"Anything that is out in the wild deserves a chance and deserves to not be trapped and tortured like that," she said.

This is not just about one fox. Someone chose to set an illegal trap in a residential community where children, pets, and wildlife share the same yards and green spaces. That person has not been identified. No one has been held accountable. And nothing in Maryland's current laws guarantees this will not happen in the next neighborhood over.

We are calling on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to escalate its rescue effort immediately and provide the public with regular updates, on Anne Arundel County officials to treat this as the animal cruelty case it is, and on Maryland lawmakers to increase penalties for illegal trapping in residential and suburban areas and restrict the use of oversized steel-jawed traps near homes, schools, and populated communities.

A fox with a trap on her mouth, possibly nursing kits, has not been seen in days. The clock is running. Sign this petition to demand her rescue, accountability for whoever did this, and real reform to protect Maryland wildlife and neighborhoods from illegal trapping.