One of Liberal Youth Scotland’s campaigns this year has concentrated on encouraging the Scottish Liberal Democrats to adopt a policy to ban snaring. We believe that this practice is barbaric, cruel, indiscriminate and unnecessary.
On Saturday 16th March, Scottish Liberal Democrat conference will debate an LYS motion calling for a ban on snaring. Scotland has led the way on this issue with the Scottish Government adopting new guidelines in 2008. However research undertaken by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) has shown that 85% of the public are in favour of an outright ban.
One Aberdeenshire Vet commented:
Snares are outdated and cause immeasurable suffering, pain, anxiety, dehydration, starvation. Far more efficient, less cruel alternatives exist for vermin control.
SSPCA research has proved that snaring is an indiscriminate practice. Their findings discovered that 70% of snaring incidents involved non target animals, meaning that animals which are causing no harm to our landowners are being cruelly mutilated.
Non target animals have included pets and endangered species. If we care about sustainability, if we care about animals, then we will follow the lead of numerous countries and ban outright this barbaric practice. Regulation will never go far enough in protecting our animals.
If you are interested in our campaign:
- Please sign our petition calling for a full ban;
- If you are attending Scottish Liberal Democrat conference we are holding a joint fringe with OneKind on Friday 15th March during the lunch break in the Balbeggie Room. Our motion will be discussed on Saturday 16th.
* Euan Davidson is Councillor for Corstorphine/Murrayfield in Edinburgh. He is the former PPC for Aberdeen North and East Lothian and a previous President of the Scottish Young Liberals.
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7 Comments
Good call, but can’t see the Tory Party who are in the pockets of landowners/farmers ever allowing this to happen.
Its devolved to the Scottish Parliament so the tories will have very little influence over it, at least up here.
Liberals should not base their record on what they succeed in banning.
If what they succeed in banning is barbaric, cruel and unnecessary then I’m sorry but I disagree
Humans are not alone in their ability to suffer pain. To outlaw torture for humans but condone it when applied to other living creatures, even if they are vermin, is incompatible with civilised behaviour. Shame on anyone who does not sign the petition!
and there was me thinking this was already banned, (but perhaps that is in England only?).. but Charles, the value of pursuing this issue is that as well as being right it is very voter friendly. More money is donated to animal charities than to children’s charities, – it is a subject that has a great pull with many, many people
I suppose some people need a definition of a snare. It is a loop of wire placed where an animal is likely to go – a rabbit hole entrance or a regular path. It aims to catch the animal around the neck and strangle or suffocate it quickly. The major cruelty is when it is not quick or when it traps the animal by another limb. Animals trapped by another limb have been known to gnaw off that limb to escape.
I don’t know the different laws in different parts of the UK. But certain types of trap, where toothed jaws close, usually on a limb, were outlawed some time ago.