found this in a RSPCA newletter.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/legaleagle58_tcm9-223309.pdf
puts it into context a bit.
On 17 November 2008, farmer Alasdair Mundell of
Lawesknow Farm, Beattock, and part-time gamekeeper
Douglas James McMillan of Beechgrove, Moffat, pleaded
guilty at Dumfries Sheriff Court to the use of two
self-locking snares contrary to the Wildlife & Countryside
Act 1981.They were both fined £250. SSPCA Inspector Mark
Rafferty reports.
On 10 April 2008, I received an anonymous call stating that
dead and dying sheep were in a field at Lawesknow Farm,
Beattock, Dumfries and Galloway. The following day I visited
the area with a colleague using powers under the Animal
Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to inspect the welfare
of the stock. We located Mr Mundell, the farm owner,
explained the purpose of our visit and he agreed to
accompany us.
In a nearby field a large stink pit or midden was found
containing several sheep carcasses. A stink pit is the generic
name given to an area where the carcasses of dead animals
are left to attract foxes. The stink pit had been fenced off and
two access holes contained a snare, intended for foxes as they
tried to reach the contents of the stink pit. This is a common
practice on many farms and estates and is legal providing the
dead animals are not domestic stock, and snares are operated
in accordance with the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.
However, when we examined the snares we found they were
of an illegal type known as self-locking. Snares should be free
running, so when an animal is caught, the snare releases
tension when the animal stops struggling. The animal is
restrained and can be humanely dispatched when the snare is
checked. Self-locking snares continue to tighten when an
animal struggles, most often resulting in a painful death by
strangulation. Should any non-target species be caught within
a self-locking snare, such as lamb, dog, badger, cat, otter, the
consequences are often fatal. We found a further self-locking
snare stored in an outbuilding.
We interviewed Mundell who admitted owning and using
the snares to target foxes that he thought were killing his
lambs. However, he stated that an employee, Douglas
McMillan, had set them. McMillan was interviewed and
accepted setting the snares.
Whilst self-locking snares are illegal and inherently cruel,
the SSPCA believes that even legal forms of snaring are
indiscriminate and unnecessary and have called for a ban
on their use. Following consultation, in February 2008, the
Scottish Government refused to ban animal snares, opting
instead to further regulate the practice. New regulations
include the compulsory fitting of safety stops, identification
tags, bans on drag snaring and the placing of snares in
certain locations. The SSPCA will continue to monitor the
overall situation should the legislation be reviewed again
in the future.
Snared!
3
maybe a case of 2+2=5 but the majority of wildlife crime in scenarios like this is committed by gamekeepers.