Group calls for snares ban after traps found

Wire loops and animal bait spotted at Glenturret Estate near Crieff

An animal rights group is calling for tougher laws on wildlife traps after a series of grisly snares were found at a Perthshire estate.

The lures use fox and deer carcasses as bait to attract predators, in a bid to protect pheasants and grouse for shooting parties.

But according to campaigners, the so-called stink pits are often set near walking routes and pose a risk to family pets. Several legal snares were spotted next to dead animal bait at the Glenturret Estate, near Crieff.

One pit found, highlighted in a Sunday newspaper, was filled with dead geese, rabbits and deer limbs.

Another featured several deer heads jammed between low hanging branches of a tree. All traps found had been legally set. Legislation introduced six years ago states that snares – thin wire loops geared to close around the animal’s neck – must not be set where an animal might hang itself.

The trap must be checked every 24 hours to ensure any captured creatures do not suffer overly.

They are banned throughout most of Europe. HARRY HUYTON

The League Against Cruel Sports argues that Scottish Government rules do not go far enough.

The group’s director in Scotland, Robbie Marsland, said: “Regulations are not a workable solution for something as crude and barbaric as a snare.”

He added: “A ban is the only way to eradicate the problems associated with snaring. We will now step up our campaign to convince the Scottish Government to take the common sense approach and ban the manufacture, sale, possession and use of all snares once and for all.”

Harry Huyton, director of Edinburghbased anti-animal cruelty charity OneKind, said a recent review of snaring regulations by Scottish Natural Heritage was a missed opportunity.

“It was destined to fail from day one, due to a bizarre and inadequate remit which specifically excluded considering whether snares have a place in modern Scotland,” he said.

“This, in spite of the fact that they are banned throughout most of Europe.”

A Scottish SPCA spokeswoman said snares are not illegal and it is only under acute circumstances that they will be considered as such.

If they are considered illegal, the police will remove the object.

The Scottish animal welfare charity would only step in if a live animal was caught in one.

Snares are one of the simplest traps and are very effective.

The Glenturret Estate has declined to comment on the animal snares.

Animal rights activists have a point in calling for a ban on snares, with opinions running hot again after the weekend discovery of snares and rotting carcases near Crieff. The snares may be legal under Scottish law, but the moral debate runs far deeper.

The thin wire nooses are not a humane holding method. They cause horrific injuries and death is often slow.

Snares don’t discriminate either. It could easily be your family pet that dies this way.

The Glenturret Estate has declined to comment on the reported snares.