Animal welfare strategy sparks rural backlash over snares and hares

Strategy published without rural consultation

The Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy for England has landed like a bombshell among shooting and gamekeeping organisations, prompting fierce criticism over what they see as ideology trumping evidence.

Published on 22 December, after Parliament rose for Christmas recess, Defra’s self-styled “most ambitious animal welfare programme in a generation” commits to banning snares and introducing a hare close season among its many proposals.

A press release issued by the department quoted animal welfare charities including the RSPCA, Four Paws UK, Compassion in World Farming and the League Against Cruel Sports, as well as Waitrose. 

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation stated that neither it nor any other rural organisations had any input into the paper or were consulted beforehand, despite the strategy’s implications for wildlife management. BASC went further, criticising Defra for quoting what it called an “extremist organisation” in the League Against Cruel Sports, whose chief executive Emma Slawinski claimed snares are “often used for no other reason than to protect millions of game birds which are later shot just for fun”. 

Dr Marnie Lovejoy, BASC’s deputy director of conservation, welcomed the prospect of improving animal welfare standards but warned the Government against making decisions based on ideology rather than engaging with those who understand wildlife management on the ground.

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Snare ban sparks clash over evidence and welfare

Ministers argue that snare traps cause suffering and can catch pets, but rural organisations draw a clear distinction between old-style non-compliant snares and modern humane cable restraints. The GWCT, whose scientists designed the modern devices, says they surpass international humane trapping standards and are essential when tall vegetation makes other fox control methods impracticable. 

Dr Roger Draycott, GWCT’s director of advisory services, warned that banning modern restraints would “significantly reduce the likelihood of the government reaching its first key nature recovery target of halting the decline in biodiversity by 2030”. Defra has not yet clarified whether its ban covers modern devices or only outdated equipment.

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Hare close season questioned by conservation data

The proposed hare close season would prevent shooting during the breeding season to protect leverets. However, British Trust for Ornithology figures show hare numbers increased by 35% between 1994 and 2025, with the IUCN listing brown hares as a species of “least conservation concern”.

GWCT’s Dr Alastair Leake said brown hare decline is related to habitat loss and predation. He warned that a close season without crop protection exemptions would be “counterproductive” and encourage pre-emptive action by farmers, rather than allowing them to remove only problem individuals causing crop damage.

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Further bans and reviews signalled

Other proposals within the strategy include banning trail hunting, with a consultation promised for early 2026. Also mentioned are reviews of spring traps and live capture traps for corvids, both currently regulated by General Licence. Defra says it will also gather evidence on welfare standards in gamebird rearing, noting that birds bred for shooting are not subject to the same legislative requirements as farmed poultry.

Despite their criticism of the strategy, the organisations have pledged to work constructively with the Government.