The use of free running snares as a method of predator control is currently legal in Scotland but is tightly regulated under the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 (WANE). Self locking snares have been illegal for many years under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
The WANE Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2011 and contains a number of measures in Section 13 which regulate the ongoing use of snares through legislation. The regulations include the requirement to only set a snare which has a fitted stop to prevent the snare tightening beyond a certain circumference and states that the snare must be firmly anchored to the ground to prevent the snare being dragged away by the captured animal.
The regulations also require snare users to identify their snares through a tagging system. Identification tags can only be issued by a chief constable to an individual who has completed the necessary training and is in possession of a qualification to this effect. Snare users are now also required by law to keep records of where they set snares and what types of animals are trapped in these. The Act calls for a review of the regulations in December 2016.
The League campaigned throughout every stage of the WANE Bill for an outright ban on snares but despite an amendment being tabled at both Stages 2 and 3 this was unsuccessful. The vote at Stage 3 was lost by 50 votes in favour of a ban with 72 against.
While the new regulations do offer some improvements on the current situation regarding snare use in Scotland unfortunately they do not go far enough to prevent needless animal suffering.
The League campaigns for a ban on snaring on the grounds the pain and suffering caused far outweighs any justification for their use. We will continue to lobby MSPs across all parties on this issue.
Background
The League has campaigned for many years to end snaring in Scotland and has made significant progress in keeping this issue high on the political agenda. Prior to the passage on the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 we campaigned for amendments which would end snaring. Although these amendments failed they gave Ministers the powers to further regulate the use of snaring.
In November 2006 the Labour administration launched a public consultation on snaring. The League responded to the consultation which generated a response which was 2:1 in favour of a ban.
Read our consultation response.
In January 2008 the League launched a high profile campaign: Hanging is Still legal in Scotland. Despite generating overwhelming public, political and professional support the Government opted not to ban snares but to instead regulate their use. It took two years for these regulations to come into force in the form of the Snares Scotland Order 2010. This was finally introduced in March 2010 and was subsequently repealed a year later and replaced by legislation implemented under the WANE Bill.
In 2008 the League lodged a petition calling for a ban on snares with the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee. The petition has over 11,000 signatures and has the backing of other animal welfare and conservation organisations including OneKind (formerly Advocates for Animals), Scottish Badgers, the International Otter Survival Fund, the Scottish Wildcat Association, the Hare Preservation Society and Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust.
The Committee has gathered a large amount of evidence on the issue as a result of our petition and when parliament dissolved in March the petition was written into the legacy papers allowing the new Committee for this session to give the petition further consideration.
Follow the progress of our petition.
The League believes regulation is not a workable solution to the problems caused by snares. We regularly carry out investigation work to expose the fact that regulation failing to reduce the suffering caused to animals trapped in snares. Our latest report Blood Still on the Wire reveals the grim reality of snare use in Scotland.
For more information on snaring and details of our UK-wide campaign visit the snaring campaign pages.