What the Countryside Alliance don’t want you to know

Snare badge

It’s not hard to imagine why the Countryside Alliance would rather stay quiet than let us know what their policy on snaring is. After all they know that the majority of us think that this barbaric trapping method should be banned, and in their submission to the Inquiry into Hunting With Dogs chaired by Lord Burns they stated: “Foxes wounded by shooting or snaring are likely to suffer prolonged pain and distress, even if the injuries are not fatal.” – June 2000.

Now they have endorsed the following statement: “Snares are a vital tool of wildlife Management. Legal snares, properly set, are a humane means of control.” – June 2002.

Further investigation reveals that in private meetings with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation they have been developing a new type of snare called the “Rose Cuff”! Remember when they rebranded “cub hunting” as “autumn hunting”?

NASC has discovered that the “Rose Cuff” has already been tested on “captive foxes”.

At a meeting of the “Snares Liaison Group” on 23rd April 2002 it was suggested that: “For media purposes the excessive popularity of badgers needs to be reversed and the problematic image of the fox maintained!” and that “the snare is an invaluable tool in the gamekeeper’s armoury.”