WAWC calls for review of live trapping of terrestrial wild mammals and wild birds

The WAWC has published a new position paper covering the use of non-lethal traps to capture wild mammals and birds in the UK. The paper reviews snares, glue traps, box/cage traps for mammals, and bird traps in light of the internationally recognised Five Domains for assessing animal welfare and concludes that current controls are insufficient to prevent suffering in wild animals.

The WAWC is calling for a comprehensive review of the live trapping of terrestrial wild mammals and wild birds. This should encompass both the need for trapping as well as the welfare impact of the trapping process itself.  Specific welfare-related requirements should be provided by legislation for all traps, rather than relying on general animal welfare legislation which is largely retrospective.  Regulations should aim to prevent welfare harms from occurring in the first place.

Traps are routinely and widely deployed to capture and confine or restrain wild mammals and birds around the UK, for a variety of purposes including the protection of livestock, crops and game, and for public health reasons including the prevention of disease.  The intention is to kill the target animal after capture, although in some instances the animal may die before the trap is inspected. However, the routine use of such traps is increasingly questioned by animal welfare advocates and the public.

WAWC chair Dr Pete Goddard said:

“All traps may adversely affect the welfare of sentient wild animals and, increasingly, we need to question the justification for causing this widespread suffering and look for better alternatives, including avoiding direct control. Our new position paper clearly sets out the welfare harms inherent in live trapping, both physical and mental, and this analysis has led our committee to conclude that reform is urgently needed.

“The WAWC has long promoted the application of the seven ethical principles for wildlife control, at both government and wildlife management level, and we believe that these can play a vital part in reducing and mitigating suffering. Trapping of wild animals in order to kill them is a long tradition but, like all traditions, the practice needs to be questioned in light of modern scientific evidence covering both animal sentience and the efficacy - or lack of efficacy - of routine control by trapping and killing.”

In addition to the need for a full review of live trapping, the WAWC paper recommends that:

Specific welfare-related requirements should be provided by legislation for all traps, rather than relying on general animal welfare legislation which is largely retrospective and depends on penalties for causing unnecessary suffering or breaching the duty of care to an animal under control of a responsible person.  Regulations should aim to prevent welfare harms from occurring in the first place.

Wildlife control should be made subject to ethical principles, such as the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control [2].  These state that human behaviours should first be modified and then, if wildlife control is considered necessary, it should be justified with evidence that substantial harm is being caused to people, property, livelihoods, ecosystems, and/or other animals.  Where control, lethal or non-lethal, is still considered to be needed, it must be carried out using recognised methods with the lowest overall welfare impact.  

With regard to the specific types of traps currently in use, the WAWC supports:

·       A ban on the sale of snares and their use by both public and industry.

·       A full and immediate ban on the sale of glue traps and their use by both public and industry.

·       Further research into alternative methods for the deterrence of rodents and where necessary, more humane methods of killing

·       Additional regulation of cage and box traps for both mammals and wild birds, initially by the introduction of a licensing regime with conditions that incorporate ethical principles identical or similar to the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control .

·       A total ban on the use of all decoy animals in traps, unless under specific licence in exceptional and justifiable circumstances directly related to conservation or welfare.

The new WAWC Position Paper complements the Position Paper: Lethal traps for terrestrial mammals, published in November 2020.

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