SAV Comment – we have added some additional photos in this post which are not directly part of the LACS campaign below – Mark (WAV).

 

Information provided by the (UK) ‘League Against Cruel Sports’ (LACS)

https://www.league.org.uk/snares

 

 

Why it’s time for a ban on snares

A fox with its front right leg caught in a snare.

What are snares?

A snare is a thin wire noose set to trap animals which some people view as being a pest or threat, usually foxes and rabbits. They are intended to catch the animals around the neck like a lasso.

Many people are surprised that this archaic form of trapping is still allowed, believing it was outlawed decades ago. But it is still legal to use a certain type of snare in the UK.

Injury and death – why snares are so cruel

The modern legal snare is meant to tighten around an animal and hold it quietly until the gamekeeper comes to kill it. But the reality is shocking. In their desperate struggle to escape, animals may be strangled, or may suffer horrible and sometimes life-threatening injuries, or a lingering death.

Even if the snare doesn’t kill the animal, they may still die at the hands of a predator, dehydration or exposure to the elements. The League Against Cruel Sports is doing everything it can to protect animals from snares, as in the UK they are mainly set up by shooting estates to eliminate animals that predate on ‘game’ birds, and therefore this is a subject linked to cruel sports.

How many animals are caught in snares?

Like landmines, snares are indiscriminate, because these wire traps can’t tell the difference between a fox, your family pet or a protected species.

As a result, the amount and diversity of animals that fall victim to these snare traps is immense. Snares capture any animal that happens to step into them. In 2012 a UK government study found that only around a quarter of the animals trapped in snares were the intended targets (normally foxes). The remaining three quarters of the animals caught, severely injured or killed in these vicious nooses included hares, badgers, family cats and dogs, deer and even otters.

Based on the government’s 2012 research, we estimate that snares may be trapping up to 1,700,000 animals every year.

Who uses snares?

These days, snares are set mainly by gamekeepers on commercial shooting estates to stop foxes from catching the ‘game’ birds, It’s ironic that these snares kill so many different animals, just so that the pheasants, partridges and grouse can be protected till they are shot down later for ‘sport’. Snares are seldom used by people to catch their own food.

So many of the UK’s precious wild animals are being wiped out to protect the profits of private shooting interests. We believe that this is absolutely not a valid justification for causing such cruelty and suffering.

https://www.antisnaring.org.uk/news/snares/badger-died-horrific-snare/ 

 

Are snares legal in the UK?

Yes – we’re completely out of step with most European countries.

Britain is one a few European countries where snares are still used. Most countries in this part of the world recognise that these devices have no place in modern society and, if necessary, they use alternatives.

Here in the UK, it is still legal to set ‘free-running’ neck snares to catch foxes and rabbits. These types of snares are supposed to hold the trapped animal alive until the snare operator returns and kills it. But they can become kinked or rusty – and lethal. The animals’ panicked struggles just exacerbate the potential for terrible injuries and death. Legal snares can also be set in the wrong way or the wrong place, increasing their potential to cause more suffering and catch non-targeted animals. And illegal snares are designed to kill all the animals they catch are still in use.

Why a snaring Code of Practice will never work

The Government believes that snare use can be controlled by a Code of Practice by providing guidelines on their use, including how and where to set them and how to avoid injury to the animals.

But its own research shows that no amount of regulation can reduce the suffering snares inflict – or the number or variety of animals caught in these lethal traps.

In the Government’s own 2012 report into snaring, not a single fox snare operator visited was fully compliant with the Code of Practice that was valid at that time, a full seven years after it was introduced. Furthermore, a study by the shooting industry itself revealed that less than half of the gamekeepers involved had even read the Code. Although there are now new codes of best pactice in Scotland, England and Wales, none of them are likely to prevent non-target animals from being caught, or to eliminate suffering to acceptable levels, even if they are fully complied with. It is simply impossible to enforce regulations for a practice that occurs primarily on private land in remote locations. Claiming snaring can be properly regulated to avoid unnecessary suffering and to address the conservation concerns they create, is a cop-out .

https://www.freshfields.org.uk/community/freshfields-anti-snaring-campaign/ 

 

How can we change the law on snaring?

The League will continue to campaign for a ban on snares in all the countries of the UK, because, like most of the people in the country, we passionately believe that snares are cruel and cannot be merely regulated. A total ban will make enforcement far easier and should not cause any significant problem as there are many alternatives to snaring.

Most British people want snares banned.

• 77% of the British public think snares should be illegal (Ipsos MORI, 2014)
• 68% of MPs also support a ban on snares (Dods poll, 2015)

We believe that as we continue our education programme and more and more people understand what snares really are and the damage they do, these numbers will continue to increase.

In England, MPs debated snaring in the House of Commons in July 2016, and voted for a ban. However, the government ignored the vote and instead have pushed ahead with a new Code of Practice – which was drawn up by the shooting industry, the very people who use snares the most.

We are also working hard to seek bans on snares in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
It is time for a complete ban on the manufacture, importation, sale and use of snares to end the suffering of the huge number of animals caught in them every year.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/692430/More-than-million-animals-year-fall-victim-barbaric-snare-traps

 

How can I help ban snaring?

• Join one of our supporter groupsto help us raise awareness that snares are still being used
• Share this page on your social media

Find out more

• Watch our stunning campaign video The Silent Enemy. No animal cruelty is shown, but it clearly depicts what a snare can do
• Watch our Snare Horror Exposed video which shows the sad story of a hare caught in a snare in Northern Ireland
• Watch our Death Pit in the Countryside video which shows how animals are lured into snares by ‘stink pits’
• Read our report The problems of snaring in the UK and its alternatives – 2017.pdf

 

Fox cubs ‘fed’ to South Herefordshire hunting hounds

A man and a woman have admitted causing unnecessary suffering to fox cubs at a hunting kennels.

Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard the cubs were “fed” to hounds belonging to the South Herefordshire Hunt.

Pictured above –  Julie Elmore, 55, of Brynarw estate near Abergavenny, and Paul Reece, 48, from Itton, in south Wales both admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Three others deny the same charges.

Above – Paul Oliver and Hannah Rose

– Opening the case against the hunt’s master of hounds Paul Oliver, kennel maid Hannah Rose and terrierman Nathan Parry, prosecutor Simon Davis said: “The unnecessary suffering involved the killing of fox cubs, effectively feeding the animals… throwing the fox cubs into the kennels of the fox hounds, thereby killing them.”

Terrierman Nathan Perry

 

The court was told a hidden camera was placed at the kennels by the Hunt Investigation Team after it received information animal welfare legislation had been allegedly breached in May 2016.

Mr Oliver, was caught by the covert camera as he prepared to feed live fox cubs to the dogs, the court heard.

Mr Davis alleged the camera provided “significant” evidence against Mr Oliver, including footage which he claimed showed him lifting fox cubs out of a cage and entering the kennels.

Mr Parry, 40, also of Brynarw estate, denies four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Mr Oliver, 40, and Ms Rose, 30, both of Sutton Crosses, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, also deny four counts of animal cruelty.

Sara-Lise Howe, acting for Ms Rose, said: “She was not involved and did not cause the death of the foxes.

“She simply didn’t know about it.”

Clive Rees, representing Mr Oliver, submitted there was no evidence whatsoever to show he killed two of the foxes which are the subject of the charges.

Mr Oliver claimed to have used an axe to kill foxes and denied throwing the animals to the hounds.

Elmore and Reece, will be sentenced at a later date.

The trial continues.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48461509

The court was told a hidden camera was placed at the kennels (above) by the Hunt Investigation Team after it received information animal welfare legislation had been allegedly breached in May 2016.

 

Photo – Mark (WAV)

 

More great news from the USA – Mark.

 

Good News! Minnesota Moves to Ban Recreational Wolf Hunting

Posted by Carly Day | May 5, 2019

Image Credit: Pixabay/Skeeze

 

The Minnesota House of Representatives has voted in support of a bill that would ban the cruel sport of recreational wolf hunting in the state.

Although the bill narrowly pushed through with a 66-65 vote, the victory was unexpected in this largely pro-wolf hunting region.

Representative Peter Fischer introduced the amendment to an environmental bill, stating that wolves are an important species for Native American tribes and should not be hunted for sport.

Since 2014, federal law has banned wolf hunting in Minnesota (and most other states). However, a recent proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to delist gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act could change that. If wolves are delisted, each state would manage their own populations, and hunters could be allowed to needlessly slaughter these graceful animals as early as 2020.

Most areas of the United States classify gray wolves as endangered; however, Minnesota, which has an estimated gray wolf population of 2,650, lists them as threatened.

While gray wolf populations are gradually recovering, they are still only present in about five percent of their historic range, and conservationists say that it’s far too early to consider removing protections.

Although the bill still needs to progress through the Senate, it is a promising first step in ensuring one of the United States’ most iconic species continues to be protected from trophy hunters.

 

Update – pm 15/5/19  from the NRDC:

https://www.nrdc.org/ 

Dear Mark,

In most of the range where gray wolves once lived, played, and roamed, no one has heard a wolf howl in decades.

Once driven to the brink of extinction, only about 6,000 remain in the lower-48 states. Yet the Trump administration has proposed to strip wolves of their vital Endangered Species Act protections.

Help NRDC ensure beloved species like the gray wolf receive the full protection they deserve under the law: Become a Monthly Partner by May 17, and your first three gifts will be MATCHED, up to $150,000.

Gray wolves could once be found across the country — until the mid-20th century, when a massive government-sponsored program eradicated almost every gray wolf in the lower-48 states.

When the Endangered Species Act passed in the 1970s, the unmitigated slaughter of gray wolves ended, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was charged with their recovery.

Help NRDC ensure beloved species like the gray wolf receive the full protection they deserve under the law: Become a Monthly Partner by May 17, and your first three gifts will be MATCHED, up to $150,000.

Gray wolves could once be found across the country — until the mid-20th century, when a massive government-sponsored program eradicated almost every gray wolf in the lower-48 states.

When the Endangered Species Act passed in the 1970s, the unmitigated slaughter of gray wolves ended, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was charged with their recovery.

Although wolves have made progress in some areas, they are still missing from significant parts of their historical range. But instead of helping wolves fully recover, the Fish and Wildlife Service has been trying to cut them loose for the better part of a decade — and now, the Trump administration plans to let that happen.

It’s heartbreaking to think we might have saved the gray wolf from extinction just to wind up here. The Trump administration is doing the bare minimum for gray wolves before yanking away the critical protections they need to fully recover.

NRDC has fought in court to protect gray wolves before — and we’ve won. And we’re prepared to file suit again to give wolves the chance at recovery that they deserve.

But Mark, we’re currently embroiled in dozens of other active cases against the Trump administration, too — and we urgently need your help to ensure we can respond swiftly and forcefully as soon as protections for gray wolves are stripped away.

For only a few more days, you can DOUBLE your impact to protect endangered species from the Trump administration’s cruel, deadly attacks. Please become a Monthly Partner now — this is urgent.

For the last few years, we’ve beat back a record number of threats against endangered species, from rusty patched bumble bees and giraffes to elephants and North Atlantic right whales. Responding to these mounting attacks requires unprecedented resources — but we can’t slow down. Not when so much is at stake.

Today, you can do twice as much to help make sure we stand strong, no matter what. Thank you for helping safeguard the earth — its animals, its plants, and its people.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sylvia Fallon
Senior Director for Wildlife, NRDC

 

I have given today to protect endangered species in the USA.

Can you do the same ?- please help.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for making a tax-deductible donation to support NRDC and our campaign to save endangered species from extinction. We have processed your donation, and the transaction information is below. We appreciate your generous gift at this critical time.

To do even more to protect wildlife, please encourage your family and friends to join you in supporting this critical campaign.

You can read about the new alarming United Nations report — and what it means for our ecosystem and its millions of wildlife species — in this blog post on NRDC.org.

Sincerely,
NRDC

No goods or services were provided to the donor, and thereby the entire gift is 100% deductible for federal income tax purposes.