Defra Snare Madness

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are paying £119,420 of taxpayers money to amongst others the bloodsport group the Game Conservancy Trust to ‘research’ the humaneness of snares.

The Game Conservancy Trust, or as they have rebranded themselves – The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust – has amongst its sponsors Mitsubishi Motors, who also sponsor another bloodsport group.

What Defra fail to realise is that snares are not set under laboratory conditions and no gamekeeper or snarer is under any obligation to abide by codes of practice.

At Stockbridge, Hampshire last year, after numerous badgers were killed by snares, the gamekeeper simply denied setting them to escape prosecution. At Cawdor earlier this year, gamekeepers again denied setting snares after dozens of hares were found dead in snares.