Wales votes to ban ‘cruel’ animal snares

Critics say traps regularly catch non-target species and animals can suffer for days

Wales is on track to become the first UK nation to ban snares, after a vote in the Senedd backed criminalising what campaigners say is a cruel and indiscriminate way to trap wild animals.

The wire traps are used by gamekeepers and farmers across the country in efforts to catch foxes, which would otherwise hunt lambs and gamebirds. But critics say the traps cause animals immense suffering, and that non-target species are regularly caught.