Wildlife UK Forum - Discuss the UK countryside and wildlife

Hanging is still legal in Scotland

Snares are thin wire nooses that are used to trap wild animals perceived to be ‘pests’. They are inhumane, indiscriminate and are used across much of Scotland. A recent poll found that an overwhelming 75% of people in Scotland thought snares should be banned. Despite such strong support for a ban on snares the Scottish Government recently announced its intention to regulate, rather than eradicate, these cruel traps.

Please join the campaign and help stop animals suffering in snares, visit http://www.bansnares.com

By the way, I welcome discussion and questions on the topic

Hello and welcome to the Forum. You might want to have a look at this previous thread:

http://www.wildlifeuk.net/buzzard-dies-a...t-670.html

And also theis link may be of interest to you:

http://www.antisnaring.org.uk/

I agree snares are very cruel, and in the wrong hands they can become very indiscriminate. Snares are so easy to make, and the majority of these will end up the illegal type that are hugely inhumane.

Would it be better to educate people from using snares than to Ban them?

There are snares on the Market that are "humane" (if you can call them that), would you rather know that those that are going to use snares would be able to get hold of these?

No matter how you try, those that are going to do it will. Badger digging is still going strong.

P.s I don't support snares, far from it, i would love to see their use become a distant memory.

I think it is a common problem with lots of traps - they don't care what they catch. I think Fauna's right, the main reason snares must be used is because they are easy to make - but it is a horrible way to kill an animal.

I agree with Fauna. Snares are completely wrong and a horrible way of trapping and killing an animal. But the people who use them must have no problem with this, as they know better than anyone what happens to the animals and how cruel it is. It's going to be very difficult to stop them with a ban, so educating people to use different methods or even more humane snares is a good start.

Usually I'd say education is the key, but in this case it is so horrible that I think an outright ban with severe punishments threatened would be the best way to go! How anyone can use a snare is beyond me, I didn't even think people still did use them until I saw this thread.

People who use snares obviously have no respect of compassion for wildlife, so I can't really imagine educating them is going to make much difference? Education at a grass-roots level might help in the future, but something more drastic has to be done to stop it now.