Animal welfare campaigners praise Welsh Government for banning snares

Leading animal welfare charity, the League Against Cruel Sports, has welcomed the Welsh Government’s decision to ban the use of snares – making Wales the first country in the UK to make this move.

It follows the publication of the Agriculture (Wales) Bill today which outlines moves to prohibit the use of these cruel animal traps.

The League is now planning to work with Members of the Senedd to ensure the measures are as effective and comprehensive as possible and include a ban on the manufacture, sale, possession, as well as the use, of snares in Wales.

Chris Luffingham, director of external affairs, at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Wales is leading the way in animal welfare by making this move which will hopefully end the use of these cruel and barbaric devices.

“Snares kill a wide range of animals indiscriminately, causing  slow and painful deaths, and are rightly on their way to being consigned to the history books.”

Snares are thin wire traps which tighten around their victim and are widely used by shooting industry gamekeepers to target any animal they think threatens their ‘game’ birds.

Government figures show only a quarter of the animals caught in them are the target species and that up to 51,000 snares lie hidden in the Welsh countryside at any one time.

Polling by You Gov plc in 2021 showed 78 per cent of the Welsh public wanted snares to be made illegal in Wales.

The League has been campaigning for a ban on snares in Wales since 2017 when its petition, signed by thousands of supporters, triggered a detailed inquiry in 2017 by the Senedd Environment Committee.

The Welsh Government accepted their findings which laid out a route to banning snares.

Annual reviews since then showed voluntary guidance on snares has produced a lack of evidence to show an improvement in animal welfare.

The Welsh Labour Party committed to a ban on snares in its 2021 election manifesto and the updated Programme for Government published in December 2021 contained this commitment too.

Chris Luffingham added: “We’re hoping for a swift passage of the bill. The game bird shooting industry has a negative impact on the Welsh countryside and animal welfare, and we welcome these moves to stop gamekeepers from laying snares.

“This move to ban the use of snares will be popular among the public and illustrates a forward-thinking and compassionate stance on rural affairs and animal welfare by the Welsh Government which we hope will influence other decision makers around the UK to follow suit.”

The Welsh Government has also committed to restricting the use of cages for farm animals and the League is pushing this to be extended to the caged breeding of ‘game’ birds like pheasants and partridges which are being factory farmed in Wales.