Is the government finally going to do something about snares?

DEFRA Minister Rory Stewart has stated he is “considering options and will make an announcement in due course” following the damning 2012 DEFRA report into snaring that was overseen by the Central Science Laboratories. This report which we have sent him collated from incidents we have been involved in since 1992 proved that all snares were causing life threatening injuries to target and non target animals. Over the years we have been fobbed off with “ministers are considering options,” but only now is there talk of a future “announcement.”

As a result we have sent the DEFRA Minister a dossier detailing hundreds of snared non-target animals over more than 20 years to assist his announcement.

23 years ago we started an anti snaring petition and presented 60,000 signatures to Downing Street in 1998 in conjunction with what is now called the Badger Trust. Over the next decade, with the support of the Badger Trust we presented two further petitions to Downing Street, 2002 another 60,000 and 2007 80,000 signatures  which achieved one thing: The government set up of the Snares Working Group which then commissioned the 2012 report: Extent and humaneness of snaring in England and Wales. No further work needs to be done as it proved all snares kill and injure animals.

Do assist Rory Stewart (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs) with your own personal experience of snaring.  Contact: helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk