Legal background
- The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 already has provisions prohibiting a number of different means and methods of killing or taking wild animals (section 11). Some methods are prohibited entirely, whilst others are only prohibited as regards certain listed species. For offences relating to traps and snares, there are defences available where the trap or snare is set for identified purposes, such as public health and agriculture.
- The Pests Act 1954 also contains provisions relating to the trapping of animals (section 8). Under this Act it is an offence to use any non-approved spring trap or to use an approved trap in unpermitted circumstances. However, this does not apply to traps which have been specified by Order as being adapted solely for the destruction of rats, mice or other small ground vermin, currently the Small Ground Vermin Traps Order 1958. The sale of an unapproved spring trap with a view to it being used for a purpose which is unlawful under the Act is also an offence, as is the possession of a spring trap for a purpose which is unlawful.
- It is already an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 for a person to allow or cause unnecessary suffering to any animal under their control or for which they are responsible – this would include a trapped animal.
