Who will police it? Certainly not the Police, unreliable, inept, lackadaisical, etc. In the unlikely event of a miscreant ever being prosecuted, there's then the problem of a magistrate actually handing out a significant sentence. What a sad and pitiful state this country is in!
'shooting industry' - a club of well heeled miscreants who actually enjoy killing. It should be banned outright and those 'working' in the 'industry' should get proper jobs
That is good and promising news and a great first step! I just hope that they put in as much effort in enforcing and properly policing this hopefully soon to be law/bill as they are stating it. Although, I find it very typical that England (where I live) has done NOTHING at all! Wasn't England supposed to be an "animal loving" county (with bear skin hats still being used unnecessarily too)?! The way I see it, even though only time will tell whether these laws are properly enforced or not, Scotland appears to be the most wildlife loving county on this in the UK with pre banning trial hunting and very hopefully soon, all snares too, Wales being second having banned all snares (although this needs far better enforcement considering what happened to that poor fox found in a snare in Wales not long ago) and lastly, England, making no attempt so far to properly ban trial hunting or snares at all. With Ireland, I am not sure whether that is a part of the UK or not (I am not brilliant on geography or politics) but I know they freely allow foxhunting there so, are a step or a few worse steps, further than England if they are considered part of the UK. Well done Scotland, please get this law/bill through and properly enforce it once made into law!
My former property in rural Moray was surrounded by a (pheasant) shooting estate and I would regularly pass rusting, discarded snares on my walks about the braes with my dog. But in 8 years of living there and thousands of walks I only ever saw a fox once, in the distance, and heard one, I think, one night. And all the badger sets were lifeless with grass growing in the tunnel entrances. So almost no 4-legged predators here but not I believe because of snares. Instead, I am confident that the gamekeeper was keeping them controlled through surveillance - radar, thermal imaging, tripwires and ? - and shooting (hunting rifle nightsights are very effective). And there has been all the badger culling - spotting and shooting again - to provide the killers with an excellent opportunity to perfect their technique.
So all this aggressive bluster and outrage by the SGA concerning the possible ban on snares is driven mainly by the belief that the state shall take nothing from the wildlife psychopaths even if they aren’t really using it. And by the same token there won’t be any significant reduction in predator killing even if the ban comes in and is respected by the gamekeepers. Alas.
Snares are long, lingering deaths. How often do they check snares for suffering animals? If they did not want to protect the birds they want to shoot snares would not have been invented.
Excellent news, however...
Who will police it? Certainly not the Police, unreliable, inept, lackadaisical, etc. In the unlikely event of a miscreant ever being prosecuted, there's then the problem of a magistrate actually handing out a significant sentence. What a sad and pitiful state this country is in!
George Sampford
I live in Scotland, and couldn’t agree more with your post. Policing here is in a sorry state, so I’m not holding my breath.
Good news, step by step things are happening to improve the lot of the wildlife that inhabit these islands. So much more to do ……..
Slowly but surely though Dave 👍
'shooting industry' - a club of well heeled miscreants who actually enjoy killing. It should be banned outright and those 'working' in the 'industry' should get proper jobs
That is good and promising news and a great first step! I just hope that they put in as much effort in enforcing and properly policing this hopefully soon to be law/bill as they are stating it. Although, I find it very typical that England (where I live) has done NOTHING at all! Wasn't England supposed to be an "animal loving" county (with bear skin hats still being used unnecessarily too)?! The way I see it, even though only time will tell whether these laws are properly enforced or not, Scotland appears to be the most wildlife loving county on this in the UK with pre banning trial hunting and very hopefully soon, all snares too, Wales being second having banned all snares (although this needs far better enforcement considering what happened to that poor fox found in a snare in Wales not long ago) and lastly, England, making no attempt so far to properly ban trial hunting or snares at all. With Ireland, I am not sure whether that is a part of the UK or not (I am not brilliant on geography or politics) but I know they freely allow foxhunting there so, are a step or a few worse steps, further than England if they are considered part of the UK. Well done Scotland, please get this law/bill through and properly enforce it once made into law!
Perhaps it should become a law that anyone using " humane snares" should be subject to spending a few days in one? Wishful thinking I know ........
I completely agree with you Margaret Connor!
Then as we are the largest predators on the planet. Can we not use snares for humans,or possibly culls
full of admiration for Scotlands sense of fair play xxxx
Same here too!
WHY DON'T THESE "SHOOTISTS" SHOOT AND KILL EACH OTHER??? MUCH MORE FUN. AND THAT WAS MY TRADE, WHEN I WAS IN THE MOB.
My former property in rural Moray was surrounded by a (pheasant) shooting estate and I would regularly pass rusting, discarded snares on my walks about the braes with my dog. But in 8 years of living there and thousands of walks I only ever saw a fox once, in the distance, and heard one, I think, one night. And all the badger sets were lifeless with grass growing in the tunnel entrances. So almost no 4-legged predators here but not I believe because of snares. Instead, I am confident that the gamekeeper was keeping them controlled through surveillance - radar, thermal imaging, tripwires and ? - and shooting (hunting rifle nightsights are very effective). And there has been all the badger culling - spotting and shooting again - to provide the killers with an excellent opportunity to perfect their technique.
So all this aggressive bluster and outrage by the SGA concerning the possible ban on snares is driven mainly by the belief that the state shall take nothing from the wildlife psychopaths even if they aren’t really using it. And by the same token there won’t be any significant reduction in predator killing even if the ban comes in and is respected by the gamekeepers. Alas.
Snares are long, lingering deaths. How often do they check snares for suffering animals? If they did not want to protect the birds they want to shoot snares would not have been invented.
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