Short film spearheads campaigners' attempt to get animal snares banned

Published on Friday 11 January 2008 09:15

A SHORT film is being launched in Edinburgh as part of a major campaign to ban animal snares.

"Hanging is still legal in Scotland" will be screened at the Scotsman Hotel on Monday, before being released in cinemas nationwide later next week.

Free-running snares are used by farmers and gamekeepers to catch foxes, which pose a threat to their chickens or birds like grouse and pheasant.

However, other animals can get caught and if the snares are rusty or not regularly checked, the animal can be badly wounded as it struggles to get free.

The campaign is led by Advocates For Animals, whose chairwoman, the Duchess of Hamilton, has seen animals snared first-hand.

She said: "I've seen an otter ripped by the stomach in a snare set by a poacher on my estate and I've seen a kitten disembowelled.

"But I don't see the suffering of a rabbit or hare as any less than that of a kitten.

"Only four other countries in the EU allow snaring. France, Ireland, Spain and Belgium.

"The Scottish Parliament has been brilliant in pushing through sensible changes to animal welfare. I'd like to see them leading the way and saying that's it."

Colin Shedden, Scottish director of the British Association of Shooting and Conservation, said: "If snares are banned it will be a serious blow to those who work looking after livestock or game birds."