Wednesday, 19 September 2012
SNARES ARE CRUEL AND SHOULD BE BANNED
I CAME under attack from the usual suspects when I recently called for private gun ownership to be banned.
You can always expect the same reactions when taking a stand against people with guns who like to kill animals.
There are those that desperately cling to any justification and promote their activities as a service to the countryside, and then there are those who just arrogantly and unashamedly defend their “right” to shoot at defenceless animals.
Either way, the reaction usually lingers somewhere between bullying and threatening, but I guess that’s kind of par for the course.
That’s why I had sympathy with the League Against Cruel Sports when it encountered a similarly blinkered backlash after the publication of its film Gunsmoke and Mirrors. You an watch it here: http://vimeo.com/45496168 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prbPW-eNGG0
One of the problems it covers is snaring and, in particular, the ongoing issue of gamekeepers and farmers failing to comply with the codes of practice designed to minimise cruelty.
It follows the publication of a DEFRA study that revealed not a single fox snare operator visited was fully compliant with the code of practice developed by the Independent Working Group on Snares.
Just as alarmingly, it is not actually readily possible to buy a snare that is fully compliant with the code of practice recommendations.
Snaring is of course a long-standing issue. It is an inherently cruel practice. Only the most optimistic among us can, at best, hope that a snared animal will not be subject to prolonged suffering.
The reality is far darker. Many captured animals will be left to starve. That is if they don’t die first of panic or from the agony of the tightening noose around their limb as it bites harder and harder the more they struggle for freedom.
Then there are those that will be injured, ultimately leading to a slow and cruel death as they struggle to fend for themselves, while others may become an unnaturally easy target for prey.
And that does not even touch on the fact that a snare is entirely indiscriminate in terms of the animals it captures. The DEFRA study found more than half of operators had captured non-targets in fox snares.
Snaring is inhumane and unacceptable. Attempts to regulate the practice have failed and will always fail because, ultimately, you can’t make right what is fundamentally wrong.
That is why politicians must face up to the bullies and take strong action. Just like cock fighting and hunting animals with dogs before it, the use of snares is cruel and only a total ban will suffice.
Will there be an outcry from the noisy minority? Of course there will. But the day we give in to the bullies is the day when we might as well give up altogether.
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Chris, totally agree but why does Labour continue to support the manufacture and use of these barbaric devices and support the shooting industry? At present even if there was a Labour government there would be no snares ban because the Labour party has a policy of supporting the shooting industry and snaring, as seen at last years party conference. In 13 years in government Labour did nothing about snares but it did give huge support to the shooters and their appalling bloodsports industry. Will shadow Ministers again be praising up the shooters at this years conference? Until Labour stops supporting BASC it will not be seen as the party of decency and animal welfare by the majority of the movement and beyond.
ReplyDelete"You can always expect the same reactions when taking a stand against people with guns who like to kill animals."
ReplyDeleteI recommend you go and shoot yourself a rabbit, skin it, gut it, cook it and eat it. Chances are it won't taste as nice as that cheseburger or steak that you like so much but at least you will have taken responsibility for killing your own food. I don't think people should be allowed to eat meat unless they are prepared to kill the animal and thus acknowledge the animal's contribution. Chances are you yourself would not be able to pull the trigger. Enjoy your next steak you hypocrite!
I read your diatribe in full and it really was a "diatribe" full of incorrect facts and figures to justify your biased opinions. Suggest you do some research using the Home Office figures. You know as well as I do that the huge majority of gun crime is by criminals using "illegal" guns i.e. guns often smuggled in from abroad from countries such as those of Eastern Europe.
ReplyDeleteLegal gun owners are often some of the most law-abiding and genuine members of our society and it saddens me that you belittle them in the way you did. Everytime UK governments ban certain guns or put in place more draconian restrictions then gun crime often dramatically increases because "criminals don't follow laws".
You tar everybody from air rifle field target shooters to clay pigeon and full bore shooters as little better than perverse members of society.
Yes, pest control also does has a place. Suggest you visit some of the farms in your constituency and see the damage the likes of rabbits and deer do to the nation's arable crops. I've seen whole swathes of crops decimated in this way. After the poor summer we have just had we need to do everything we can to be as self-sufficient in the country as we can without importing food.
Politicians may wonder sometimes why people dislike them? I'll give you three reasons i)they do not tell the truth, ii)we are all sick of the Nanny state and iii) we dislike being controlled by people who do not live a real life!
Chris, I don't like snares either. They offer a slow and far less humane pest control method than shooting.
ReplyDeleteHowever, since you also desire the total ban of private firearm ownership, how do you actually propose that farmers protect their crops and livestock?
Rabbits are a non-native invasive species, only released into the British wild around 1850 with few natural predators beyond mixy, which is a slow and inhumane death. Without the means to control them arable (especially cereal) yields fall significantly. Deer also pose the same problem as we have eliminated their only natural predator - the wolf. Meanwhile sheep farmers would suffer high losses to foxes, as well as low grazing densities due to rabbits consuming grass that sheep could otherwise feed on.
Now, you are a Labour MP. In light of your views on shooting and snaring, what cost-effective alternatives are you going to offer farmers so that they can feed your constituents? Like it or not, without these methods the cost of food would be far higher as farmers would harvest far smaller yields. How do you square your desire to see pest control made impracticable with the fact that many families in your constituency struggle to pay their grocery bill each week, even without the price hike that pest-based losses from uncontrolled rabbits, pigeons, deer and foxes would incur.
Your policies of banning guns and snares play very well to the ears of your green leaning supporters, but what about the man on the street who cannot afford the inflation busting food price increases we have seen of late. What is your justification for slashing food yields and boosting prices at the till?
I completely agree with you aswell and I get so tired of reading the same type of responses from people such as "unknown" here. It is so sad that some humans feel this inate desire to kill. Are they any different than humans who kill other humans in crimes in cities? I dont think so, however they can justify their actions to you all day long, and you are right; they are bullies. I have spoken to many hunters and ranchers about Wolves and they are vicous and attackful when talking about that type of slaughter too. The thing about snares and steel jaw traps is they are cruel and cause a slow suffering death. How much pain they suffer and the prolonged amount of time they suffer is inexcusable and inhumane. I found this article and many more like it, because I am trying to join the fight to stop snaring and trapping in the United States. It is very difficult to read the stories of peoples beloved pets trapped and utlimately killed by snares and traps. Or see the pictures of wildlife, sliced to bits and bloddy, It is not right, the way trappers and hunters are allowed to use our public lands to do this. I have a comment for Mr. Rich above me here. I would prefer personally to pay more for my food, which I do everyday to make better choices; in order not to have some joker like you justify actions that are just not justifiable. You cannot kill off every rabbit, fox amd deer in order to accomodate humans.You may have this problem in your area because people already killed off their predator, coyotes, wolves etc. So therefore there will be a problem with out predators, and not human predators. That is not normal or healthy! Humans have no plan on stopping there ever growing numbers, but we should! We are going to cause the demise of this planet because of our selfish needs! Humans are the plaque of this planet. Save a species and start killing off useless humans. Save a species and shoot a land developer! I mean at what point will we stop this all out assault on our wildlife? when everything is gone and there is nothing for gun toteing hotheats to shoot at? I suppose so....I dont eat meat, wear wool or support any inhumane practices on animals by boycotting products and ranchers that do so, it's that simple.There are non-lethal ways to deter predators from flocks and I am sick of the lame pioneer minded 100 year old methods they still try to use. I mean bating meat with strychnine? people are sick, who ever does that deserves to die in the same painful manner. Humans try to justify every sick thing they do as an attempt to protect themselves or their livelihood, however when a wild animal acts instinctively, we slaughter it! Humans are the most ignorant living being...however claiming to be the most intelligent. The majority don't use the brain they were born with!
ReplyDelete