Unlawful branding consists of either:
A. branding, marking or causing to be branded or marked any animal, which is the property of another, with any brand not the brand of the owner of the animal;
B. defacing or obliterating any brand or mark upon any animal which is the property of another; or
C. using any brand unless said brand shall have been duly recorded in the office of the cattle sanitary board of New Mexico [New Mexico livestock board] or the sheep sanitary board of New Mexico [New Mexico livestock board], whichever is applicable, and the person holds a certificate from the cattle sanitary board [New Mexico livestock board] or the sheep sanitary board [New Mexico livestock board] certifying to the fact of such record.
Whoever commits unlawful branding is guilty of a fourth degree felony.