Britain’s wildlife is being needlessly persecuted because legal loopholes are allowing people to maim and kill native animals without reproach, campaigners say.
In 2016, the government rejected a motion by MPs to ban snares, which catch and wound an estimated 1.7 million animals every year, including pet dogs and cats, as well as badgers, sheep and lambs.
The animals suffer “protracted and gruesome” deaths, according to wildlife supporters including television star Chris Packham, who are lobbying the government to now introduce a ban.
At the same time, a loophole on how police forces record wildlife crime means the true level of cruelty is unknown and cannot effectively be policed, according to the Naturewatch Foundation.
Badger baiting, setting dogs on foxes and chasing hares all have to be recorded as miscellaneous, not specific wildlife crimes.
Reports by experts have previously revealed how the wildlife crime underworld in the UK is “rampant”, with “shockingly low conviction rates”. Criminals profit from gambling on hare coursing, while the widespread illegal
