Trapping

(asked on 26th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of the use of snares on the populations of non-targeted animals.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 3rd February 2022

When used improperly, snares can cause immense suffering to both target and non-targeted animals. The use of snares is therefore an issue we are looking at closely as part of our continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world.

Through the Government's Animal Action for Welfare Plan, published in May 2021, we are looking at whether changes need to be made to reflect concerns raised.

There is already a Code of Practice for the use of snares to control foxes in England which sets out clear principles for the legal and humane use of snares. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 also prohibits the setting of any type of snare in places where they are likely to catch certain non-target animals such as badgers.

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