This is a misuse of the statute. Animal cruelty statutes were designed to stop people from torturing or otherwise harming animals in an unnecessarily cruel way. That’s not what appears to have happened here.
If they want to outlaw killing strays, they ought to pass a law that covers that, instead of misusing other laws.
I do not understand people who move to a rural area and let their pets run loose. They are then surprised when something like this happens, or as is more often the case, their pet becomes lunch for a bobcat.
This wasn’t a havahart trap. This was a crush trap. Unnecessary.